Nafisa Ali campaigns with AICC member Nagma and UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi for Shyam Kishore Shukla, Congress candidate for Lucknow West bypoll at Gole Market, on Wednesday.

It was a surprise for many to see Ali at the campaign. A few months ago, Ali had left the Congress to contest for the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat on an SP ticket against Joshi.

But, on Wednesday, both were seen in the same public meeting campaigning for Shukla. Speaking on the occasion, Ali told the crowd to support the Congress and defeat all other parties. “It is important that Congress comes to power in the state,” she said. Subodh Srivastava, Chief Spokesperson of UPCC, said: “Ali had met Sonia Gandhi around one month ago in Delhi. Today, she formally joined the party and addressed four public meetings.”

Vishal Srivastav