Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said he was “very sad” by his stepbrother Daljit Singh Kohli’s decision to join the BJP. But, the Congress sought to downplay it by terming it a “non-event”. This even as an apparent rift within the PM’s family over the issue surfaced with allegations of a “deal” between Daljit and the BJP being levelled by the new entrant’s nephew whose own son though denied it.
“I feel very sad. I have no control. They are all adults,” the PM said while replying to queries on the sidelines of the Padma awards function in Delhi. In a move that left the Congress red-faced, Daljit had on Friday joined the BJP at a public rally in Amritsar in the presence of the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Daljit’s nephew, son of his elder brother, Mandeep Singh Kohli initially alleged that there was a “deal” between the BJP and his uncle.
He claimed Daljit has been given Rs 3 crore by the BJP. He accused the BJP of driving a wedge between two brothers and charged it with resorting to doing such things due to the “imminent defeat” of its senior leader Arun Jaitley in Amritsar elections. “But the BJP will not get anything out of it as Daljit has no political base in Amritsar,” Mandeep said.
“The BJP is already in trouble because of intense infighting among its leaders and now it has indulged in pitting a brother against another brother,” he said. He claimed that even he had got an offer to join the BJP but he declined it as his entire family has been in Congress since the beginning and “will remain with it till last breath”. In Indore, later in the day, he, however, feigned ignorance about the deal. Interestingly, Mandeep’s own son Randeep denied his father’s claims about the deal.
Daljit denied having struck any deal with the BJP. He said he was “depressed” over the plight the Congress has landed itself in and denied having taken any advantage of being related to the Prime Minister. “My brother has been Prime Minister for 10 years. Tell me if you have seen any deal that I have made in Amritsar. One deal I have certainly had is with Modi, Prakash Singh Badal, Arun Jaitley and that has been for the development of Amritsar,” he said.
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain termed Daljit’s entry as an indication of the party’s growing popularity and people’s growing disenchantment with the Congress. But while Finance Minister P Chidambaram dubbed it a non-event, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal showcased the entry of Karuna Shukla, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece, into Congress’ fold to wonder why the PM’s brother could not join a different party.
The Congress also ridiculed the BJP asking whether its “dirty tricks department was still functioning”. “As far as I know he (Daljit) is a non-political person. He never made a political statement in his life. His joining a party is a non-event,” Chidambaram told reporters at the AICC briefing.
When asked about the reported comments of Daljit’s nephew that there was a “deal” behind Kohli joining the BJP, Chidambaram said, “It is quite possible. Why should I disbelief thatIJ I think they had set up a dirty tricks department. Is that still functioningIJ”