Himachal Cong working prez switches to BJP

Mahajan, a former cabinet minister, joined the BJP in the national capital in the presence of party president J P Nadda and Union commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal.

Himachal Pradesh Congress’s working president, Harsh Mahajan, on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Harsh Mahajan after joining the the Bharatiya Janata Party, in New Delhi. (ANI)

Mahajan, a former cabinet minister, joined the BJP in the national capital in the presence of party president J P Nadda and Union commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mahajan alleged that the Himachal unit of the Congress had become “visionless, directionless and leaderless” and was ruled by a “maa-beta” like in Delhi — a veiled reference to Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh and her MLA son Vikramaditya Singh, a family he was closely associated to for years.

“I’ve been in Congress for about 45 years. I didn’t lose an election. Congress was there till Virbhadra Singh was there. Today, Congress has become directionless. There is no vision and there is no leadership,” he said.

“What is left of Congress on a national level... Rahul Gandhi has completely wiped out the Congress...” he said while talking to news agency ANI .

He added that a group in the party was indulging in sale of electoral tickets.

The Congress state unit however hit out at Mahajan saying he had “dumped” the party 15 years ago covertly.

“He dumped Congress 15 years ago and helped the BJP get a foothold in Chamba. What he had been doing covertly, now he can do it openly,” said AICC general secretary and Dalhousie legislator Asha Kumari.

“There would be no consequences for Congress,” she added.

Mahajan, who inherited politics from his father Des Raj Mahajan, a former Vidhan Sabha speaker and cabinet minister, joined Congress back in 1972.

A graduate of Sriram College of Commerce, New Delhi, Mahajan was one of the longest-serving president of the Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress (1986-95).

He was first elected to the state assembly from the Chamba assembly segment in 1993 and appointed a chief parliamentary secretary. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2003. He was the animal husbandry minister in the Virbhadra Singh government from 2003-2008. He also remained the chairman of State Cooperative Bank from 2013-2017.