Birender Singh Deals Major Blow To BJP As Former Union Minister Switches To Congress Ahead Of Lok Sabha Polls

The ceremony was attended by Ajay Maken, Mukul Wasnik, Pawan Khera and senior leaders of Haryana.

Former Union Minister Birender Singh.

Source : PTI

A day after quitting BJP, Former Union minister Birender Singh on Tuesday joined Congress along with wife Prem Lata Singh, a former BJP MLA from Haryana. The ceremony was attended by Ajay Maken, Mukul Wasnik, Pawan Khera and senior leaders of Haryana. Singh and his wife defection to the grand old party took place almost a month after his son Brijendra Singh joined the Congress.

#WATCH | Former BJP leaders Chaudhry Birender Singh and his wife Premlata Singh join the Congress Party, in Delhi

Their son and former BJP leader Brijendra Singh had joined the Congress Party recently. pic.twitter.com/cV0EGeOtoW

— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2024

Earlier on Monday, both Singh and his wife resigned from the saffron party citing the "wider gap" in ideologies.   

Birender Singh joined the BJP over ten years ago, after spending over four decades in the Congress.

After his son joined the Congress on March 10, there was anticipation that Birender Singh might soon follow suit.

Birender Singh served as Union Minister of Steel in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first administration. He also served as minister of rural development, Panchayati Raj, drinking water, and sanitation.

During the protests against the now-repealed farm laws, Birender Singh backed the farmers.

Birender Singh, a minister in the Congress administration led by Hooda in Haryana, is the grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram, regarded as a "messiah of farmers".

When asked why he left the BJP, Birender Singh explained that he had been with the Congress for 42 years until joining the saffron party in 2014 for "certain reasons".

"When I joined BJP, I knew the ideology of this party would be different and there would be some differences between the ideologies of the two parties. Later on, I experienced that there was a wider gap," he had said. 

Regarding the farmers' protests, Birender Singh stated that he pushed the subject on party forums and asked that their issues be addressed. "I felt that while I was giving suggestions, those were not being heeded," he said.