Samir Dwivedi, son of Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi, joined the BJP on Tuesday. Samir joined the BJP in the presence of saffron party general secretary Arun Singh.
"I am joining a political party for the first time... I chose the BJP as I was inspired by the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Samir Dwivedi said.
Samir Dwivedi's father, Janardan Dwivedi, has been a senior Congress leader and was general secretary of the party for a decade. Janardan Dwivedi was considered as being close to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Janardan Dwivedi, a one-time academic at Delhi University, reportedly taught Sonia Gandhi Hindi and has been her speechwriter.
When asked about his response to Samir joining the BJP by news agency ANI, Janardan Dwivedi said, "I have no information about this, If he is joining BJP, then it is his independent decision."
In 2015, the Congress severely criticised Janardan Dwivedi for praising Modi for reportedly giving people a feeling of "Indianness" in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
In December 2019, Janardan Dwivedi shared a stage with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at an event in Delhi, raising eyebrows.
Janardhan Dwivedi was among the handful of Congress leaders who welcomed the Modi government's move to abrogate Article 370.
Dwivedi then said, “It is a very old issue. After Independence, many freedom fighters did not want Article 370 to remain. I had my political training under Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, who was against this article. Personally, this is an issue of a matter of satisfaction...”