Saharanpur, Jan 10 (PTI) A former Congress MLA on Monday said he has joined the Samajwadi Party along with his supporters.
Imran Masood, a western UP leader, who is believed to be close to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said he decided to join the SP after consulting with his supporters at his residence.
Massod, meanwhile, was booked by the local police for amassing a large crowd of his supports without taking permission from the authorities amid the enforcement of the model code of conduct.
Saharanpur's City Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar said Masood and his supporters were also booked for violating various anti-Covid guidelines.
No one in the crowd at Masood's residence was wearing any mask or following the social distancing norms, he said.
An FIR has been registered against Masood and over 300 of his unnamed supporters under the various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Pandemic Act, Kumar said.
Announcing that he was joining the SP, Masood said, There is a direct fight between the BJP and SP in UP which will now have a government under Akhilesh Yadav to protect the youths, farmers, traders and women.
The present BJP government in the state is an enemy of the Hindu-Muslim unity, he alleged.
