Senior Congress leader and former Punjab Cabinet Minister Rana Gurmit Sodhi, a close aide of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh joined the Bharatiya Janta Party on Tuesday in New Delhi.
Mr. Sodhi is the MLA from Guruharsahai and was the Sports Minister in the Punjab Government led by Mr. Singh. He was dropped from the Cabinet after Charantjit Singh Channi took over as Chief Minister. He won from the seat consecutively four times from 2002 till date. His decision is being seen as another jolt for the Congress party, which is fighting to retain power in Punjab.
He joined the BJP in the presence of Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Bhupender Yadav. After joining the BJP, Mr. Sodhi said he was delighted to be a part of BJP family and work for the development of Punjab. He said he has joined the BJP to honour his commitment to work for Punjab and Punjabiyat.
Expressing concern that the border State was staring at grave threat to its peace and communal harmony, Mr. Sodhi said it was only Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP which could save the State.
Ahead of joining the BJP, Mr. Sodhi tendered his resignation from the Congress saying the party has put State’s security and communal harmony at stake.
“I am deeply hurt by the bickering and in-fighting within Congress Party. This is harming the party as well as causing serious problems for the State and the Government. I feel suffocated and helpless in the present situation especially when the party has put the State’s security and communal harmony at stake. Rather than taking action to restore peace in Punjab, senior Congress leadership is hell-bent on destroying the border State for their personal gains,” wrote Mr. Sodhi in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Mr. Sodhi said that agonised with the state of affairs, he was tendering his resignation from all posts and primary membership of the Congress party with immediate effect.
