BJP suffers setback as party's Haryana MP joins Cong ahead of LS polls

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, BJP MP from Hisar Brijendra Singh on Sunday resigned from the party's primary membership due to "compelling political reasons" and joined the Congress.

Soon after announcing his resignation on X, Brijendra Singh, the son of BJP leader Birender Singh, reached Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi and joined the opposition party.

Senior Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Mukul Wasnik and Deepak Babaria were also present on the occasion.

In his post on X, Brijendra Singh said, "I have resigned from the primary membership of BJP due to compelling political reasons. I extend gratitude to the party, National President Sh. J P Nadda, Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi, & Sh Amit Shah for giving me the opportunity to serve as the Member of Parliament for Hisar."

Congress sources said the bureaucrat-turned-politician is set to be the party candidate from Hisar.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Brijendra Singh had defeated Jannayak Janta Party's Dushyant Chautala and Bhavya Bishnoi, who was then with the Congress, to win the Hisar Lok Sabha seat.

Brijendra Singh is the great grandson of prominent Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram.

In October last year, Birender Singh had served an ultimatum to the BJP, virtually threatening to quit if the party continued its alliance with the JJP, which he accused of indulging in rampant corruption, in Haryana.

The JJP had extended support to the BJP after the former fell short of the majority in the 2019 Haryana assembly polls.