Chandigarh: Ruling BJP suffered major jolts in Haryana Tuesday with one of its senior leaders Prof Chhattarpal Singh, who was head of party’s intellectual cell and the saffron party’s election management member Sunil Rao, who is also the brother-in-law of cine actor Raj Kumar Rao, joined Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). They were welcomed into AAP by senior party leader and MP Sanjay Singh and state president Sushil Gupta in Delhi.
Haryana has assembly election on October 5 and the votes would be counted on October 8. A former minister, Prof Singh, then a Congress leader, had defeated Haryana’s tallest Jat leader Devi Lal in 1991. He had joined BJP in 2014. Rao was BJP district vice president of Rewari, BJP national executive member of Kisan Morcha in the national executive and later the state convener. Another BJP leader and former Rewari Zila Parishad chairman Satish Yadav also joined the party.
Prof Singh said he opposed the BJP’s old pension scheme and supported farmers' and wrestlers' protests. "Even when I raised these issues within the party, I was sidelined," he held. Sunil Rao said even though I joined AAP now, he had always had guidance from Sanjay Singh.
Speaking on the occasion, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said his party had decided all the 90 seats of the state and that Avind Kejriwal's five guarantees - free education, free health, employment to youth and free electricity and water - which were achieved in Delhi, have to be achieved in Haryana too. Sushil Gupta said that AAP is continuously growing and it is time the people of Haryana are ready to uproot the ``dictatorial’’ BJP government.
AAP’S 2nd LIST OUT
Meanwhile, the AAP released its second list naming nine more candidates; Besides Prof Singh from Barwala, the party has fielded Rita Bamaniya from Sadhaura, Krishan Bajaj from Thanesar, Hawa Singh from Indri, Mukhtiyar Singh from Ratia, Bhupendra Beniwal from Adampur, Jawahar Lal from Bawal, Pravesh Mehta from Faridabad and Abash Chandela from Tigaon.
