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New Delhi: Former Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday, May 19, formally joined the BJP, in the presence of the party’s national president JP Nadda. On Saturday, the senior leader resigned from the Congress.
Former Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar joins Bharatiya Janata Party in presence of party president JP Nadda in Delhi pic.twitter.com/eoUHhHH1Ul
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2022
Welcoming him to the party, Nadda said, “I welcome Sunil Jakhar to Bharatiya Janata Party. He is an experienced political leader who made a name for himself during his political career. I am confident he will play a big role in strengthening the party in Punjab.”
I welcome Sunil Jakhar to Bharatiya Janata Party. He is an experienced political leader who made a name for himself during his political career. I am confident he will play a big role in strengthening the party in Punjab: BJP president JP Nadda in Delhi pic.twitter.com/SqJFjIMS8T
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2022
Thanking Nadda, Jakhar said he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to make him join the party.
Jakhar said it was a difficult task for him to break away from the Congress with which he and his family had a long association.
“Sunil Jakhar never used politics to break people but join them. The Congress was like family for 50 years. It was not a personal problem, but issues related to national interest,” Jakhar said.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I am speaking today. But when I am not allowed to speak on the issues of national interest, when ideologies are relegated to sidelines, such steps become necessary,” he added.
Jakhar had quit the Congress last week after lashing out at former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Twitter, saying that he was “not an asset” as portrayed by the party leadership.
A former Lok Sabha member, Jakhar was removed from all party posts by the Congress disciplinary committee following allegations of anti-party activities by certain Punjab unit leaders against him.
He also lashed out at veteran Congress leader Ambika Soni for her statement on the “repercussions of having a Hindu chief minister in Punjab”. Jakhar also held Soni’s statement as one of the reasons for the Congress’ drubbing in the Punjab assembly polls earlier this year.
