Jan. 18: Congress veteran N.D. Tiwari, who hoped to become Prime Minister after Rajiv Gandhi's death, today joined the BJP at the age of 91 after perceived snubs from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Sources said Tiwari had been reluctant but son Rohit Shekhar, 37, whose paternity suit had forced Tiwari to acknowledge him in March 2014, brought him round this time too.

Rohit joined the BJP with his father and mother Ujjwala, 66, in the presence of party chief Amit Shah. The young lawyer is likely to be fielded from Kumaon in next month's Uttarakhand elections, while Tiwari is expected to campaign.

Tiwari had been Congress chief minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice and that of Uttarakhand once, apart from being Union foreign minister and a governor.

When Rohit began pressing him to join the BJP in mid-2016, an unwilling Tiwari had sought an appointment with Sonia but received no response. Sonia had been unwell.

Rohit then invited Rahul to Tiwari's 91st birthday celebrations on October 18. Informal word was sent that Tiwari was ready to be in Delhi if Rahul couldn't make it to Uttarakhand. But Rahul chose to visit an ailing Jayalalithaa in Chennai instead.

Tiwari's induction may help the BJP with the Brahmin vote in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Many in the Congress privately feel he should have been dissuaded.

Tiwari had been at his peak in 1991 when Rajiv was assassinated. Like fellow contenders Arjun Singh and Sharad Pawar, he viewed P.V. Narasimha Rao as a "stopgap" arrangement but a narrow defeat to newspaper hawker turned BJP activist Balraj Pasi from Nainital ended his hopes.Rohit had proved he was Tiwari's son through a DNA test, perhaps the first involving a prominent Indian political figure. Within two months, he had influenced Tiwari to marry his mother, a Sanskrit scholar and classical singer. Tiwari's first wife, Sushila, had died three decades ago.

When Tiwari agreed to join the BJP, sources said, he requested Ujjwala to sing raag Durga for him.