Chandigarh: Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday invited senior Congress leader Kumari Selja to join BJP, saying Congress had been insulting Dalit leaders.
Khattar's remarks come in the backdrop of the alleged casteist remarks made against Kumari Selja a few days ago, by some supporters of a candidate belonging to a rival faction within Congress party, video of which has gone viral. Kumari Selja, a tall Dalit leader in Haryana, who is said to be anguished over the incident, is said to have avoided taking part in the party events and campaign, since.
While addressing a gathering in Gharaunda in district Karnal, Khattar, a two-term Haryana chief minister who asked Selja to join BJP, also alleged that Congress was plagued with factionalism and groupism.
Taking a jibe at the Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his MP son Deepender Hooda, the union power minister Khattar said that there was also no clarity on the Congress chief ministerial face as besides the father and son, several other leaders were also fighting for the top post.
Stating that every one may have aspirations to be the chief minister, Khattar, however, rued that Selja, a Dalit leader is being insulted and humiliated by the supporters of rival factions within the party.
Pertinently, when asked about the likelihood of Selja and another Congress MP Randeep Surjewala joining BJP, Khattar while interacting with newspersons at another event in Karnal, said that there were endless possibilities in politics and nothing could be ruled out.
Meanwhile, Union minister of law and justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was in Rohtak on Saturday, also tore into Congress and the supporters of Hooda accusing them of reportedly insulting Selja. Meghwal was accompanied by former BJP minister Banwari Lal and BJP SC Morcha state president Satya Prakash Jarawat.
