Chandigarh: In a setback to BJP in Haryana, its MP from Hisar, Brijendra Singh resigned from the party "due to compelling political reasons" and joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on Sunday.
Singh’s father Birender Singh would also be joining Congress soon, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said on the occasion of Singh’s joining in presence of party president Malikarjun Kharge in Delhi. Maken said that Birender Singh informed him that he would join Congress soon after making an announcement in this context in a public meeting.
Former bureaucrat, Singh, 51, is great-grandson of eminent Haryana Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram; his mother Premlata was also a BJP MLA from Uchana seat in Haryana in 2019.
His father Birender Singh, a five-time MLA, had joined BJP in 2014 after his 42-year long association with Congress. He was thrice a minister in Haryana government and was also a minister twice in Modi government till 2019.
Singh had secured ninth rank in the civil services examination, though the 1998-batch IAS officer took voluntary retirement after serving for about 21 years.
Like his father, Singh has also been vocal about his views on various issues. He openly opposed Agniveers’ scheme, supported farmers’ demands and also sided with the wrestlers’ demands in their fight against the then Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations.
However, another pressing reason for his departure from the saffron party is his family’s bad blood with the Haryana's Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) which had struck a truck with the BJP post-2019-assembly-election.
Singh had defeated JJP top leader Dushyant Chautala in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Dushyant later that year defeated Singh’s mother Premlata Singh from Uchana, the seat his father had held five times in the past. With his 10 JJP MLAs, Dushyant had allied with BJP after the election and became the deputy chief minister in the coalition government.
The wrangle continued to brew between Birender Singh and JJP leadership as Dushyant insisted to fight from Uchana seat in the 2024 state polls while Birender Singh gave an ultimatum to BJP last year that he would leave the BJP if it continued its alliance with the JJP. However, the BJP on the other hand has not so far revealed its choice between Birender Singh and its ally JJP leader.
Meanwhile, talks are agog that the Congress could field Singh from Hisar Lok Sabha seat this general election.
