UP Polls: Cong. Fears Another Exit Of Raj Babbar

Mr. Babbar might join SP says the report.

New Delhi: Just weeks before the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Congress may be staring at another big exit in Uttar Pradesh with Raj Babbar giving off worrying signals. Raj Babbar's recent tweets have been divergent from the party line and he has not bothered to clarify.

This step might be one of the biggest losses suffered by the Cong. party before the election polls.

When a Padma Bhushan award for Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad provoked barbs from other party leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Raj Babbar effusively congratulated him.

In a recent tweet by the actor-turned-politician, Babbar, he wrote: "Congratulations Ghulam Nabi Azad Sahab! You're like an elder brother and your impeccable public life and commitment to Gandhian ideals have always been an inspiration. The Padma Bhushan is an ideal recognition of five decades of your meticulous service to the nation."

Yesterday, Babbar appeared to respond to criticism of his gesture for Ghulam Nabi Azad, a vocal member of the Congress' "G-23" or group of 23 leaders that have been critical of the Gandhi family's leadership of the Congress.

On Thursday, Cong. leader Babbar tweeted again, "An award becomes more meaningful when an opposition party leader's achievements are honoured. Anybody can do it for their party leaders. I think the row over the Padma Bhushan is needless."

Before the election polls, Reports have been in circulation about Raj Babbar returning to his former party, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party.

M.r Babbar has reportedly been in touch with Akhilesh Yadav.

Once a popular movie star, he debuted in politics in the late 1980s with the Janata Dal. He later switched to the Samajwadi Party. He won the 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Agra. But in 2006, he was suspended from the Samajwadi Party. Two years later, he joined the Congress.

In 2009, Mr. Babbar won the by-election from Firozabad. But he lost both the 2014 and 2019 elections.