Congress will continue to be Samajwadi Party's 'B' team in UP: BJP

LUCKNOW: Reacting to Raj Babbar's appointment as the new Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, BJP today said it has now become clear that the party would continue to work as the 'B' team of ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

Pointing at Babbar's 'samajwadi' background, BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, "By appointing Raj Babbar and Imran Masood to top party posts in Uttar Pradesh, Congress has given a clear message that it would continue to work as the 'B' team of the Samajwadi Party."

He was referring to actor-turned-politician Babbar contesting Lok Sabha election from Lucknow on a SP ticket in 2004 against former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Masood had courted controversy in the run-up to the 2014 general elections for his inflammatory speeches against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Congress today appointed Babbar the president of the party's Uttar Pradesh unit while Masood was named as one of the four senior vice-presidents under him.

Uttar Pradesh is slated to go to Assembly elections in 2017.