Former Mumbai Congress chief and state minister Kripashankar Singh is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. The development is considered significant ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) elections as Singh is a prominent North Indian face and has support in the community which is BJP’s vote bank from the past few years.
According to a statement by the party, Singh will join BJP in Mumbai in the presence of leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil.
“I quit Congress on the issue of the abrogation of Article 370. There could be opposition to the process but there was no reason for Congress to oppose the move. I had asked for reasons on the party’s stand on it, but did not get any reply. I am joining BJP without putting forth any conditions,” Singh said.
He had quit Congress in September 2019 after he felt side-lined by the party leadership. Singh had been sulking from party activities at least a couple of years before that. The leader is believed to have moved closer to BJP after he was discharged from a multi-crore disproportionate assets case by a special court in 2018. Singh was a sitting legislator till October 2014.