ND Tiwari's son Rohit Shekhar joined BJP not the veteran Congressman, clarifies saffron party

On Wednesday, amid reports of the veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari joining the Bharatiya Janta Party, the saffron party clarified that not Tiwari but his son Rohit Shekhar joined the party. A report in the Hindi news daily  Amar Ujala reported that BJP’s Uttarakhand unit has issued a clarification that the 91-year-old veteran leader, who is not very politically active these days owing to his age, has only lent support to the party. His son, Rohit Shekhar, joined the folds of the saffron party reportedly after BJP conceded to the senior leader’s demand of giving Shekhar a ticket from the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, according to  The Financial Express.  Earlier in the day it was reported that the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, along with his son had joined the BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah. [caption id=“attachment_3209294” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ND Tiwari and his son Rohit Shekhar. PTI[/caption] Tiwari’s support to the saffron party is being seen as a boost to it ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly polls on 15 February  due to his vast experience and stature. He is one of the most popular leader to have come out of Uttarakhand. The 91-year-old veteran politician was considered close to former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. He is also the only politician to have served as the chief minister of both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He has remained the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh three times and led the state government of Uttarakhand once between 2002 and 2007. Tiwari was later also appointed as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, a post that he held between 2007 and 2009. Various senior leaders have abandoned Congress in the hill state and BJP has awarded many of them with party tickets to contest the Assembly polls. The party has not yet to announced its nominees for a few seats and it remains to be seen if it accommodates any kin of Tiwari. Meanwhile, Tiwari’s son, Shekhar has been looking to establish himself politically after being united with his father following a six-year-long legal paternity battle, after which Tiwari accepted Shekhar as his son. _"_He was born out of an affair between the politician and his mother Dr Ujjwala Sharma," a  Hindustan Times report states. With inputs from PTI