Ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, senior Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Thursday joined Bharatiya Janata Party and hit out at Rahul Gandhi for his "khoon ki dalali" remarks.

Addressing media, Rita Bahuguna Joshi said, "Today I have resigned from Congress to join BJP. Developments in recent past have left me numb."

Hitting out at Rahul for his "khoon ki dalali" remarks and for demanding proof of the surgical strikes, she added, "Rahul Gandhi's leadership is not acceptable to people."

Joshi also said that she had served the Congress for 24 years but she felt that it had lost its reputation.

Joshi, who is currently the MLA from Lucknow Cantonment constituency, joined the party in presence of BJP chief president Amit Shah.

She was the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee from 2007 to 2012 and is the daughter of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, a former Chief Minister of UP.

Elections in Uttar Pradesh are to be held early next year and former Delhi CM Sheila Diksht has been projected as CM candidate by Congress.

Earlier, BJP leader and Joshi's brother Vijay Bahuguna had rejected speculations of her joining the party.