Ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024, former union minister Birendra Singh along with his ex-MLA wife, Prem Lata joined the Congress on Tuesday. The prominent Haryana leader called his return from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the grand old party a “return of ideology”. Singh had left Congress to join the saffron party in 2014.
Nearly a month ago, Birendra Singh’s son Brijendra Singh, who is a sitting MP from Hisar, joined the Congress party. Birendra Singh joined the Congress at the party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of party leaders and supporters including Randeep Surjewala and Pawan Khera.
“We are here because we have stood stronger with the people of Haryana and they too have supported us. In the last ten years, you (BJP) did not make anybody your own. I will say that it is not only ‘ghar wapasi’ but ‘vichardhara ki wapasi’ (return of ideology),” the leader said.
About Birendra Singh
The Haryana leader held important ministries during the NDA as well as the UPA government. He was the Union steel minister in the first government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition to this, he also served as the minister of rural development, Panchayati Raj, and drinking water and sanitation. During the Congress government led by Hooda in Haryana, Birender Singh also served as a minister in the Congress government led by Hooda in Haryana.
Clash with BJP ideology
The Hisar MP, Brijender Singh cited “compelling political reasons” to join the Congress. Not just Brijender, his father has also defied BJP’s stand on several issues, farmers’ protests being one of them. In 2020, they supported the farmers’ agitation against the withdrawal of the now-repealed farm laws. Both leaders also expressed solidarity with protesting wrestlers against BJP leader Brijbhushan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment.
After resigning from the BJP, the Hisar MP said that the saffron party’s decision to ally with the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) was also one of the reasons for his exit from the party.
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Published: 09 Apr 2024, 02:56 PM IST
