A BJP leader from Rampur, along with around 250 of his supporters, joined the Congress on the first day of the party’s expansion campaign in the state. Brij Lal, who contested twice from the Rampur Assembly constituency on the BJP’s ticket, joined the Congress with his supporters in the presence of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Vinay Kumar and PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh at the Congress headquarters here today.
“This is just the beginning. We are expecting around 10,000 BJP leaders and workers to join our party over the next one month,” said Kumar. The party’s expansion campaign will run from July 2 to 30.
The HPCC president claimed that disillusioned BJP leaders and workers were calling him from almost every district with a request to let them join the Congress. “Shortly, a prominent BJP leader, along with around 2,000 of his supporters, will join the Congress,” said Kumar.
Meanwhile, Brij Lal alleged the BJP was no longer the party of the workers and leaders were busy pursuing power for themselves. “We became disillusioned with the party and decided to join the Congress,” he said. Incidentally, Brij Lal was originally with the Congress, but moved to the BJP when offered a ticket to contest from the Rampur Assembly constituency. He contested twice on the BJP ticket, but lost on both occasions. In the last elections, the BJP denied him the ticket. “The BJP denied me the ticket and gave it to an outsider. Bringing an outsider to contest from Rampur also hurt me a lot,” said Brij Lal, claiming that he was joining the party unconditionally. Asked if he was eyeing the Congress ticket for the Assembly elections due next year, Brij Lal said that he was now a Congress worker and would accept any responsibility the party decides to give him.
