Hours after quitting from the Congress party, Tajinder Singh Bittu a close aide of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday joined the BJP at party headquarters in the national capital. Bittu who stepped down as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in-charge Himachal Pradesh, and Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, the wife of late Congress veteran Santokh Singh Chaudhary, joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and its national general secretary Vinod Tawde.
Bittu tendered his resignation to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. He wrote in the letter, “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." In a Facebook post, Bittu shared his resignation letter and said, "With heavy heart , after 35 years , I resign from the Congress party." Bittu resignation came a day after India began voting for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Karamjeet Kaur had last year unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha bypoll in Jalandhar following the death of her husband, who was the sitting MP. Karamjeet Kaur whose husband Santokh Singh Chaudhary died during Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra last year, accused the Congress of disrespecting his legacy.
Sources said Karamjeet Kaur was upset with the Congress for fielding former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency.
At a press conference, Tawde said their induction into the BJP will boost the party, especially in Punjab where the polls are scheduled for June 1. Bittu told reporters that he had been feeling "suffocated" in the Congress after being with the party for over 35 years. "Three-four power centres work in the Congress and all of them seek to function independently without having any coordination," he claimed.Tawde also targeted the Congress over the murder of a girl by a man on a college campus in Karnataka's Hubli and alleged that its government in the state does not seem to be taking appropriate action as it is protecting its vote bank and not women.
The victim, Neha Hiremath, daughter of a Congress councillor, was allegedly stabbed to death by Fayaz Khondunaikin, who was subsequently arrested. Local BJP leaders have called it a case of "love jihad", a claim dismissed by the Congress.
