With barely a few months remaining for the Assembly elections in the State, former Haryana Congress leader Kiran Choudhry and her daughter Shruti Choudhry on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Union Minister and former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
After joining the BJP, Choudhry said she would “work tirelessly to ensure the party returns to power in the state for a third time in a row”. “Today, I took this decision because the Prime Minister has pledged to a developed India by 2047. I have full faith that India will shine in the world. The public welfare work done by the Prime Minister has led to the formation of a BJP government in Delhi for the third time. I have worked a lot with Khattar ji. There used to be a lot of bitterness between us. But the way he worked has been my source of inspiration.”
Chaudhary and her daughter had resigned from the primary membership of the Congress on Tuesday, alleging that the State unit of the Congress party was being run as a “personal fiefdom”, in an apparent reference to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Kiran was elected a legislator from Tosham four times in a row -- 2005 (bypoll), 2009, 2014 and 2019.
Talking to journalists after joining BJP, she said, “I was a very dedicated worker of the Congress. I dedicated my life to the Congress with hard work. But for a few years, I watched the Haryana Congress become an individual-centric party. They didn't want Congress to go ahead and follow such policies. So, you can understand that the Congress would never have progressed in Haryana. Big leaders quit the party due to them...I took this step to ensure that my workers get their due rights, equal rights.”
Kiran said, “Now I am also painted in saffron colour. But this colour was also the colour of Choudhary Bansi Lal.” “We merged the Haryana Vikas Party into the Congress 20 years ago. Today, I call upon you to take the flag of the BJP in your hands, leaving the Congress’s flag, and move forward till the last moment to ensure the BJP’s landslide victory in the Haryana assembly polls for a third consecutive term,” she said in her message to the supporters who had gathered in large numbers to witness the joining ceremony.
“From today, our work begins. Take the name of Choudhary Bansi Lal and start working on the BJP’s policies, hailing the BJP’s top leadership, and visiting every nook and corner of Haryana. This will be our true tribute to Choudhary Bansi Lal and Choudhary Surendra Singh,” she added. She assured the BJP leaders that she and her daughter Shruti will work “like grassroots workers” to strengthen the party in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
“We are ready,” Shruti said, adding she had joined the BJP as she was inspired by the party’s policies and “historic decisions” taken by Prime Minister Modi in the past 10 years.
CONGRESS DEMANDS DISQUALIFICATION FROM HARYANA ASSEMBLY
Soon after she joined the BJP, the Haryana Congress wrote to the state assembly Speaker seeking the disqualification of Kiran Choudhry as a member of the Vidhan Sabha.
In a communication addressed to Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, Deputy Leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP), Aftab Ahmed, and CLP chief whip, B B Batra, mentioned that Kiran Choudhry had been elected as MLA of the Congress party from Tosham in Bhiwani after the assembly polls in 2019. "It has come to our notice that Kiran Choudhry has resigned from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress party on June 18. Furthermore, she has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of BJP leaders on June 19.
"A copy of her resignation letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, dated June 18 is enclosed herewith..," they wrote. The Congress leaders said according to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, specifically Paragraph 2(1)(a), "a member of a House belonging to any political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if they voluntarily give up their membership of such political party".
Ahmed and Batra said given that Kiran Choudhry was elected as a candidate of the Congress and has now voluntarily given up her membership by joining the BJP, she stands disqualified under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule.
"She has incurred a clear disqualification and cannot be counted as a Member of Legislative Assembly for any intent and purpose on June 19, 2024," they further wrote, requesting that a suitable notification or declaration regarding her disqualification may be made.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja said that Kiran Choudhry was treated unfairly in the party. Selja said, “It is sad. Kiran has been a veteran leader of the party. She had taken Bansi Lal’s politics forward. This will harm the party. Her daughter was not given the ticket, this could be the reason for her leaving. Congress Assandh MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi also termed Kiran’s exit unfortunate, asserting that the party leadership must find a solution. “I feel sad and I also regret it. She was in Congress her whole life and struggled...if she had some issues, she should have met the high command. The high command also needs to seriously take cognizance of such incidents...it is the duty of our leadership to find a solution to this. This is my personal opinion. I don’t know what happened exactly but this is very unfortunate,” Gogi said.
However, Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said that the exit of Kiran Choudhry will not affect the party. “No this isn’t affecting the Congress at all...she said that Congress has no future in Haryana so she is going there where she thinks her future is secured...she left because her daughter was not given a ticket...this has nothing to do with ideology,” he said.
