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New Delhi: Punjab Congress veteran Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi quit his party and joined the BJP on Tuesday, accusing the Congress of putting the state’s “security and communal harmony” at stake.
Stating that there is a serious threat to peace and communal harmony in the border state, he added that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP can save Punjab.
Sodhi, a four-time MLA and considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, announced his resignation from the Congress on Twitter and posted a letter sent to party president Sonia Gandhi.
“I cannot accept the suffocation and helplessness of Punjab! The Congress party has put the state’s security and communal harmony at stake. With deep anguish, I have submitted my resignation from all posts and primary membership of the Congress party with immediate effect,” he said.
He later joined the BJP in the presence of Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Bhupendra Yadav at the headquarters here. The BJP has announced an alliance with Singh’s party Punjab Lok Congress.
Noting that he had been in the Congress for more than four decades, Sodhi expressed his dismay at the situation in the party, particularly in Punjab, alleging that its senior leadership was “on destroying the border state for its personal gains”. is intent”.
He expressed grief over the situation in Punjab and accused the Congress of dividing it for votes.
He said that he had also met Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the situation in the state. India needs such leadership, Sodhi said of the top BJP leaders.
Recalling his association with Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, Sodhi alleged that the secular credentials of the Congress have now collapsed and regretted its infighting.
He said that Punjab needed a stable government which could save it and take everyone along.
Shekhawat, the BJP’s in-charge for the Punjab Assembly elections to be held in the next few months, lauded Sodhi’s contribution to the state’s politics and said his presence would give a boost to the party. Yadav also praised him.
Several other BJP leaders including Union Ministers Som Prakash, Dushyant Kumar Gautam and Manjinder Singh Sirsa were also present in his joining ceremony.
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