In yet another major blow for the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, senior party MLA and Uttar Pradesh co-in-charge Ajay Kapoor on Wednesday quit the grand old party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to reports, Congress was seeking to field Kapoor, the now-former party MLA from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, in the general elections.
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The reason for his switch to the saffron party is not yet known.
Addressing a press conference, with BJP leaders at the party headquarters in the national capital, Kapoor said that he “worked very honestly” during his over 37-year-long association with the Congress. “But, today, I feel that every person should join Modi ji's family for the progress of the country,” he said.
Who is Ajay Kapoor?
Born in 1967, Ajay Kapoor is a three-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh. He won the assembly election for the first time in 2002 from Govind Nagar as a Congress candidate, and then again in 2007 from the same seat. In the 2012 general elections, Kapoor won from the Kidwai Nagar constituency. However, in 2017, the UP election commission filed a show cause notice against Kapoor for “violating election conduct rules”. He lost his seat in the 2017 UP assembly election to BJP leader Mahesh Trivedi.
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{{/usCountry}}Born in 1967, Ajay Kapoor is a three-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh. He won the assembly election for the first time in 2002 from Govind Nagar as a Congress candidate, and then again in 2007 from the same seat. In the 2012 general elections, Kapoor won from the Kidwai Nagar constituency. However, in 2017, the UP election commission filed a show cause notice against Kapoor for “violating election conduct rules”. He lost his seat in the 2017 UP assembly election to BJP leader Mahesh Trivedi.
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{{/usCountry}}Kapoor now joins the list of Congress leaders who have quit the party and joined the ruling BJP.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader and former minister in Maharashtra Padmakar Valvi joined the BJP, saying that he was “upset” with the grand old party for the past year.
“The pace of work by the BJP and the planning made by the party from the state to the Centre (its benefits) reach to people. Its effect can be seen...We, the true workers of Congress, were upset for years. I was upset for a year. I was hoping to receive an opportunity to campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha election...People are indeed upset in Congress…There is no coordination in the management of the Congress organisation...I will carry out whatever role is assigned to me by the party (BJP),” he told ANI.
(With inputs from agencies)