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Acquitted by CBI court, ex-MLA Zile Ram to join BJP on March 11
A CBI special court had acquitted the former Haryana MLA in an abetment to suicide of ex-sarpanch Karam Singh of Kambopura village in Karnal in January this year. When the allegations surfaced, he and the other accused transport minister OP Jain had to resign from their posts.
Former Assandh MLA and ex-chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Zile Ram Sharma will be joining the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Karnal on Monday.
A CBI special court had acquitted the former Haryana MLA in an abetment to suicide of ex-sarpanch Karam Singh of Kambopura village in Karnal in January this year. When the allegations surfaced, he and the other accused transport minister OP Jain had to resign from their posts.
BJP district president Yogender Rana said, “Several persons, including Zile Ram Sharma, former MLAs and office bearers from various parties, will join the party. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state president Nayab Saini will remain present at the event.”
Sources said over 100 office bearers and party workers from Congress, INLD, AAP and other parties will join the saffron party at an event at BJP’s district office in Karna Kamal.
The former Assandh MLA had resumed political activities after the court’s ruling and started campaigning, expecting a Congress ticket and had even announced to contest as an Independent in the assembly elections, if no party offers him a ticket.
Following his acquittal, Zile Ram had termed the case against him as “political vendetta” and accused political leaders of “putting up” the case against him.
He was elected on former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) (BL) ticket in 2009 and had switched over to the Congress.
He was appointed as the CPS in 2011 by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. In the 2014 assembly elections, he had unsuccessfully contested Assandh seat as an Independent after quitting the Congress.
He rejoined the Congress in 2019 ahead of parliamentary elections under Hooda’s leadership campaigned heavily for Congress candidate from Karnal Kuldeep Sharma.
