Rita Bahuguna left as she couldn't have won UP election: Ghulam Nabi Azad

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday dubbed senior leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi an "opportunist" and said she left the party as she knew she couldn`t have won in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Former Uttar Pradesh Congress President Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"She searched for safe seats in the BSP, Samajwadi Party; now, she has joined the BJP. Opportunist leaders don`t stick to one place. Earlier, she was in Samajwadi Party, then Congres and now she is in the BJP. Tomorrow, she`ll go somewhere else," Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

"This is absolute opportunism. She just made an excuse to leave. The reality is she couldn`t have won the election. The contest is very tough," said the incharge of Congress affairs in Uttar Pradesh.

About Joshi`s comments on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi`s leadership, Azad said: "These are all excuses. Those who leave, they leave by blaming the party. The real reason was she knew she couldn't have won.

"She was negotiating with some parties... she went where she got the best deal."

The former Union Minister said Joshi`s father, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, was a very popular leader and was known for his secular outlook. 

"He fought against communal forces. If his daughter joins a communal party (BJP), then it is sad thing," Azad said.