U'khand: Senior BJP leader Chandra Khanduri's son likely to join Cong

Political circles here were agog with speculation on Thursday about senior BJP leader Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri's son Manish Khanduri joining the Congress and the party going to field him as its candidate from Pauri Lok Sabha seat currently held by his father.

As per speculation doing the rounds, Manish Khanduri is likely to join the Congress at its forthcoming rally here on March 16 which will be addressed by party president Rahul Gandhi.

However, party sources neither confirmed nor ruled out the possibility, saying there are several names and it will have to be seen which of them is finalised.

When told about the possible development, BJP state president Ajay Bhatt said Manish Khanduri is not a party member and so it doesn't matter where he goes.

However, Bhatt rubbished Congress claims about the likelihood of some BJP leaders joining the Congress at Gandhi's rally.

"Not a single BJP leader is joining the Congress at its rally on March 16," he said.

It will be Gandhi's first rally in Dehradun after the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule.