Politics
Birender Singh’s Warning Shot: Threatens To Quit BJP Over Alliance With JJP In Haryana
BJP Leader And Former Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh (Ministry of Steel/Wikimedia Commons)
Former Union Steel Minister Birender Singh on Monday (2 October) threatened to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana.
He advised the BJP to contest the upcoming polls on its own.
Singh also hinted at the possibility of returning to the Congress party, stating that he had "full respect" within the party during his four-decade tenure.
He said that late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi trusted and supported him more than any other leader in Haryana.
During a rally "Meri Aawaz Suno (Listen To Me)" in Haryana's Jind, Singh launched a scathing attack on JJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala without directly naming him.
He criticised Chautala for betraying the people's trust, stating that although many believed him to be Chaudhary Devi Lal's incarnation, he had deceived them like no other politician.
Singh also accused Chautala of corruption, claiming that “people came to him saying that he sought 8-10 per cent commission”.
“If the BJP is under the wrong notion that the JJP will win them votes, then let me tell them that they [the JJP leaders] themselves are not going to get any votes,” said Singh, The Hindu reported.
He added that “it was in his DNA to speak his mind” and was the only BJP leader to support the farmers movement and the wrestlers agitation.
The rally, initially intended to be a non-political gathering, was perceived as an effort by Singh to assert his political influence ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
His family's claim to the Uchana Kalan assembly segment and Hisar Lok Sabha seat, currently held by his son Brijendra Singh, a former bureaucrat turned politician, seems to be at risk if the BJP-JJP alliance remained intact.
If the BJP forms an alliance with the JJP for the Lok Sabha polls, Chautala, who ran as a JJP candidate and lost in the 2019 Hisar Lok Sabha election, would be a strong contender for the seat.
Chautala currently represents the Uchana Kalan assembly segment in Jind, which is the home turf of Singh.
In the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, Chautala defeated Singh's wife, Prem Lata, and has already announced his intention to contest the next assembly polls from Uchana Kalan.
Singh highlighted the significant contributions made by himself and other leaders who had left the Congress to join the BJP in 2014.
He emphasised their role in the party's electoral success in Haryana and vowed to fight against those who seek to divide people based on caste and religion.
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