Former Union Minister Birender Singh along with his ex-MLA wife Prem Lata on April 9 joined the Congress in Delhi. Mr. Singh, who was the Union Steel Minister in the Modi Government, and his wife resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 8.
Their joining comes a month after their son Brijendra Singh joined the party after quitting the BJP. Birender Singh (78) is the maternal grandson of the farmer leader Sir Chhotu Ram and had quit the Congress in 2014 to join the BJP.
On his return to the Congress, Birender Singh said, “It is not just my ‘ghar wapsi’ but also ‘vichar wapsi’.”
Welcoming Birender Singh and Prem Lata into the Congress, party leader Mukul Wasnik said, “With their joining, I am sure the Congress will be strengthened in Haryana and help form the Congress Government in the State.”
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “With his [Birender Singh] rejoining, he has proved the age-old saying, ‘East or West, Home is the best’. He is my elder brother and I am very happy about his return to the Congress fold.”
“We need to increase our strength by displaying unity and only then will we be able to save democracy and the Constitution,” Mr. Hooda said.
AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala said, “This is an emotional moment for me and I welcome him into the party fold.”
Other Congress leaders including Kumari Selja, Haryana party chief Uday Bhan, former Haryana Assembly speaker Kiran Chaudhary, former Punjab deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and AICC OBC Cell head Capt Ajay Singh, were also present on the occasion.
Earlier, Mr. Singh told The Hindu that he and his wife, a former MLA, will join the Congress along with many supporters. “I had already announced [our decision] to quit the BJP in case they continued to have an alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP). Though the alliance fell apart two days after my son and Hisar MP Brijendra Singh resigned and joined the Congress, the decision was already made and could not be reversed,” Mr. Singh said over phone.
(With PTI inputs)
