Former diplomat Satender Kumar joins Congress

New Delhi : Former diplomat Satender Kumar, a Dalit from Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday joined the Congress.

Kumar, who was India's ambassador to Suriname was formally inducted into the party by Congress General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad and state Congress chief Raj Babbar. Around 350 supporters from Saharanpur, Loni, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and areas in Haryana and Uttarakhand also joined the party.

His induction into the party is being perceived as a message to Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati who recently snubbed the Congress by refusing to ally with it in election-bound Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Highlighting Kumar's Dalit credentials, Babbar claimed that many others belonging to the Dalit community including retired bureaucrats are "queuing up to join the Congress".

"I hope that his joining the Congress will benefit the Dalit community as well as the party," said Azad.