Punjabi singer-politician Hans Raj Hans, 52, has left the Congress, too. He was welcomed into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by its president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday. Hans, who had quit the BJP’s partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with a lot of verbal acrimony, and joined the Congress in February, termed this too a “homecoming”. Pitching himself as a Dalit leader from the Valmiki community, he is being seen as a probable candidate from Jalandhar West for the Punjab assembly polls due early next year.
“I am impressed with the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed my desire to serve the party with Amit Shah,” he said, committing to “selfless service”. “Unfortunately, the Congress doesn’t like straightforward people,” he told HT. In the Congress, state unit chief Captain Amarinder Singh had recommended his name for a Rajya Sabha seat soon after he joined, but former minister Shamsher Singh Dullo, also a Dalit, was chosen instead at the last moment by the party high command. Hans had later raised slogans over “discrimination” with Dalits at a party rally in Amarinder’s presence, but was until recently seen by the former CM’s side.
Punjab BJP chief and Union minister Vijay Sampla — who is also a Dalit from the Doaba region where the community has an assertive majority presence — said, “Hans was in touch with the party for the past many days and had met me in Chandigarh. The party will benefit by taking his services.”
Sources said Hans, whose ticket from the Congress was not assured owing to opposition to turncoats, is keen on contesting from Jalandhar West, represented by BJP minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, who has crossed the age of 75, making him ineligible to contest as per BJP norms now. Also, Hans’ house in Jalandhar falls in this constituency.
But there are murmurs within the BJP over his past record. Sources said his induction was facilitated by a BJP leader from Haryana, through national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who was present at the time of his joining. “Hans is a liability. He has caused embarrassment to every party that he has joined,” a senior BJP leader, who wished not to be named, told HT.