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BJP Hisar MP Brijendra quits party, joins Congress
Brijendra, a former IAS officer, had taken voluntary retirement after serving for 21 years in service and joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 general polls.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Hisar Brijendra Singh resigned from the primary membership of the party and later switched over to the Congress in the presence of party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Haryana affairs in-charge Deepak Babria and others in Delhi.
Brijendra, a former IAS officer, had taken voluntary retirement after serving for 21 years in service and joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 general polls. He defeated Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala by 3.14 lakh votes.
Read here: Hisar BJP MP Brijendra Singh joins Congress, reveals reason for switch
The bureaucrat-turned politician took to X (formerly twitter), and said, “I have resigned from the primary membership of the BJP due to compelling political reasons. I extend gratitude to the party national president JP Nadda, Prime Minister Narender Modi and Amit Shah for giving me the opportunity to serve as the member of Parliament from Hisar.” Later, he resigned as an MP.
The BJP is yet to announce Lok Sabha seats for Haryana and Brijendra’s resignation raises many questions within and outside the party.
Brijendra’s father Birender Singh, a veteran politician and former Union minister, said his son Brijendra had quit the BJP because of ideological and political differences.
“He has a different stand on issues like farmers’ protest, women wrestlers’ issue, Agniveer scheme and he believes in secularism. At present, a person with strong determination and commitment can leave the BJP and join any other party. Our family has more than four decades of association with the Congress and our workers could not adopt BJP’s ideology,” he said.
Former Union minister and five-term MLA Birender said he is likely to join the Congress by holding a bigger rally.
When reporters asked him about deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala’s jibe that people prefer to change their God instead of changing themselves, Birender said he is surprised that those people who are bowing down before the BJP, are making such comments.
While interacting with reporters in Sirsa, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said he does not know with what planning Brijendra had quit the BJP and joined the Congress.
“He can reveal better about his planning. For the last one year, he (Brijendra) was trying to leave the BJP and finally he left the party and joined the Congress. We will see whether he contests from Hisar parliamentary seat or Sonepat,” he added.
In a Faridabad rally, Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said the BJP MPs are leaving the party, and this shows that BJP’s graph has started falling in Haryana.
Read here: Police stop farmers in Hisar from marching towards Delhi
Former Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja expressed happiness over induction of Brijendra Singh into the party fold.
“My family has close association with Birender Singh’s family and I appreciate the decision taken by Hisar MP Brijendra Singh. We hope that senior leader Birender Singh will also join the party soon,” she added.
