Farmers’ protest, the Agniveer scheme and the ill-treatment of women wrestlers were the three reasons he quit the BJP, Brijendra Singh, who represented Haryana’s Hisar in the Lok Sabha, told Moneycontrol on March 11.
A day earlier, Singh, who took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Services in 2018 to join the BJP, announced his decision to quit the party on the X platform, formerly Twitter. He joined the Congress within hours after he also resigned from the Lok Sabha.
The switch comes as the Election Commission is expected to call the Lok Sabha elections anytime. Haryana, where the BJP is a senior partner in the ruling coalition, is due to hold assembly elections later in the year.
Singh said the three issues directly effected Haryana and he was nowhere in the picture, adding there was growing resentment against the BJP in the state. Edited excerpts of the interview:
You have quit the BJP just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Why?
I have not taken this decision in a hurry. It was building up for some time now. The party had no clear stand on three major issues ranging from the farmers’ protest to the Agniveer scheme to the women’s wrestlers’ protest. The people of Hisar elected me and I could never speak about all these problems in Parliament, considering the anti-defection law. The people in Haryana are struggling and the BJP leadership never had a word with me as to what is happening on the ground and what can be done to take people into confidence.
Since you have joined the Congress, are you expecting a ticket for the Lok Sabha election?
I have joined the party without any condition. The ideological differences with the BJP were growing and I found Congress the best alternative, which has a clear stand on all the issues prevailing in Haryana and other states.
As politicians, we are supposed to speak against the policies that are anti-people. Even if the Congress party doesn’t give me a Lok Sabha ticket, there is a lot to work on the ground to strengthen the party. I was in touch with the Congress leadership for the last one and a half years as to what can be done for the people.
So, you are saying that you you decided to quit the BJP a year ago?
Last year on October 2, my father and I held a rally in Jind without any political affiliation. We had announced that if the BJP continues its alliance with the JJP (Jannayak Janta Party), there is no reason for us to stay with it.
It is the JJP dictating terms in the state following which no people-friendly decision was taken by the government in the state. Many people in the past have joined the Congress because the BJP has overlooked people’s aspirations and demands. Our rally had a clear message that people are above any party.
Did the BJP reach out to you?
Of course, many senior leaders did and I won’t name them. I was told to reconsider my decision. In fact, I thanked them for giving me the opportunity to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in which I defeated Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala and then Congress leader Bhavya Bishnoi. But now, all these attempts don’t make any relevance. We had to reach out to people and listen to their grievances where we failed miserably.
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