Lucknow, Apr 21 (NIE): Senior Congress leader from Rae Bareli and two-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh, who is set to join the BJP in presence of Amit Shah on Saturday, alleged that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Gandhi had initially denied his youngest brother an Assembly ticket from the party bastion. The Congress has denied these allegations.

The MLC further said: “Be it Sonia Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi, none would be able to win election from Rae Bareli in the (2019) Lok Sabha election.”

“My (youngest) brother (Rakesh Singh) was offered ticket by the BJP during the (2017) Assembly election but I requested him not to take it as it would have been improper that one brother is in Congress and other contests from BJP. I requested Priyanka to give him a ticket, who first denied saying that four Thakurs cannot be given ticket in Rae Bareli,” Dinesh told The Indian Express. Rakesh was later given a ticket from Harchandpur constituency in Rae Bareli and was elected.

“I was later called and asked by her (Priyanka) to give my resignation in advance as an MLC. She told me that if Congress and SP alliance is formed, then she will accept my resignation and ensure victory of someone else close to them. She even got my resignation videographed. It was humiliating for me,” Dinesh alleged.

“Having given so much to the Congress, I expected to become at least a minister if Congress government was to be formed but those dreams of mine were shattered by Priyanka Gandhi,” he said.

Dinesh’s younger brother Awadesh Singh, a zila panchayat chairman in Rae Bareli, is also set to join BJP on Saturday. Though Rakesh will not officially join the party on Saturday, he has already clarified that he is “not part” of the Congress any longer.

It is for the first time that allegations regarding ticket distribution was made against Priyanka, who has been managing election-related work of her mother Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli and brother Rahul Gandhi in Amethi for the past few years. “I will do what the BJP asks me to do but one thing is for sure that Congress will not win from Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha election, no matter who contests, be it Sonia Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi,” Dinesh said.

Refuting the allegations, K L Sharma, AICC secretary and also representative of Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, said, “These allegations are all wrong. First of all, no resignation was taken from anyone. Rae Bareli has five Assembly constituencies – four general and one reserved. It was discussed that strong claimants on all four general seats were Thakurs but ultimately all of them were given tickets and no resignation was taken from anyone.”

Congress district president V K Shukla said, “He (Dinesh) is party-hopper for his selfish gains and making false allegations. He was in SP and could not win public election, he was in BSP and could not win a public election and criticised their leaders before leaving these parties.”

Talking about Rakesh, Shukla said: “He should resign if he wishes to be seen next to BJP leaders. The party will not take any action as of now and let them attend the rally first,” he added.

Meanwhile, BJP is gearing up for Saturday’s rally, which is expecting a footfall of at least 1 lakh. The rally will be held at Government Inter College ground in Rae Bareli. “BJP along with (Dinesh) Singh is making preparations as we target a gathering of 1 lakh people. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his deputies Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya, senior leaders like Sunil Bansal as well as ministers will be present at the rally,” said BJP’s Rae Bareli president Dileep Yadav.