New Delhi/Jalandhar, April 20
Congress leaders Tajinder Singh Bittu, a close aide of Priyanka Gandhi, and Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, widow of two-time Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, joined the BJP in Delhi on Saturday.
The development comes as another setback to the Congress, which has seen an exodus of high-profile leaders in recent weeks during the Lok Sabha elections.
Bittu, who was AICC secretary co-incharge of Himachal Pradesh, joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and party general secretary Vinod Tawde.
In a letter addressed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Bittu resigned from the party this morning.
“I hereby tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress and from my post — AICC, secretary co-incharge of Himachal Pradesh, effective immediately,” he said in the letter.
Bittu shared his resignation letter on a Facebook post with the caption, “With a heavy heart, after 35 years, I resign from the Congress party.”
Bittu, who hails from Jalandhar, was received in Delhi by BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill. There’s a buzz that Bittu may be fielded from the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency.
Bittu had remained the District Congress chief in Jalandhar during the tenure of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh in 2002. Later, he became a chairman of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust. He was the AICC secretary for over the past five years.
Karamjit Kaur, whose husband Santokh Singh Chaudhary died during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra last year, accused the Congress of disrespecting his legacy. Karamjit is mother of sitting Phillaur Congress MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary.
The Chaudhary family had been opposing the candidature of Charanjit Singh Channi from the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency. They had tried their best to seek ticket from the high command and had even demanded reconsideration of the ticket.
Karamjit had lost the Jalandhar bypoll with a margin of 58,000 votes from AAP candidate Sushil Rinku, who has also defected to the BJP and has been fielded by the saffron party. He was also present in the joining ceremony of Karamjit. Interestingly, the duo was together in the Congress a year ago, but never saw eye to eye.
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