Sunil Jakhar, former Congress Punjab leader, joins BJP

Former Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party chief JP Nadda in Delhi on Thursday, dealing another blow to the grand-old party. He expressed regret for severing relations with the Congress, which he referred to as "family," and claimed he was excluded because he pointed out that the party cannot handle Punjab in percentages and divide people based on caste. 

"I had a 50-year association with Congress; my family had been members of the party for three generations, beginning in 1972. "I considered it family," he stated, saying that he left Congress because to "basic concerns," not personal disagreements with the gathering. The Congress has an aspect of casteism, but the BJP believes in equality for all, he remarked.

JP Nadda welcomed Jakhar to the BJP and said, "He is a seasoned political leader who has earned a name for himself in the political arena. I am convinced that he would help to develop the party in Punjab."

He further said, "Congress is no more a national, Indian, or democratic party; it has been reduced to a 'Bhai-Behen' party. The operations of Congress have diminished. They pushed objectivity aside in favour of subjectivity... Such groups are a threat to the BJP, and we are battling them."

Jakhar left the Congress last week after hitting out on Twitter at former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, claiming that he was "not an asset" as the party leadership claimed.

On the proposal of the disciplinary action committee, the party resolved a week ago to remove Jakhar from all party positions for two years. Since then, the former Congress leader has been pondering his political choices. He was not only dissatisfied with the way the Congress high leadership handled him, but he was also dissatisfied with being handed a show-cause notice for supposed anti-party activity.

Also Read | Ex-Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar exits party, urges Rahul Gandhi to take control

Jakhar has accused the Congress high command of listening to a "certain Punjab politician" about the choice of the CM following Captain Amarinder Singh's departure. He said that despite having three generations of his family in Congress for 50 years, he was "stripped of all party offices" for "not toeing the party line." After Amarinder Singh was deposed as chief minister last year, Jakhar was one among the frontrunners.

Also read: Congress panel recommends suspension of KV Thomas, Sunil Jakhar; Sonia Gandhi to take final call

Sunil Jakhar announced his resignation from the party on Saturday through Facebook live. As the party's huge brainstorming conference, 'Chintan Shivir', reached its second day in Rajasthan, he made this statement. He was upset by the party's response to his supposed anti-party activities. Jakhar alleged that Congress officials "sitting in Delhi wrecked the party in Punjab," and blamed Ambika Soni's remarks on the "repercussions of having a Hindu chief minister in Punjab" for the party's "disastrous performance" in the February-March state polls.

Also read: Sunil Jakhar warns Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over G-23 meetings