In a boost to the BJP ahead of the lok Sabha polls, rebel Congress MP from Gurgaon in Haryana, Rao Inderjit Singh, who had demanded a probe into land deals of Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, on Wednesday resigned to join BJP on Thursday.
The 63-year-old MP who was a minister in the UPA-I Government ended his 35-year long association with the Congress. The three-time MP, who has been a legislator for four terms in Haryana, is the son of late Union Minister Rao Birendra Singh.
He had stirred a controversy in September last year when he demanded a fair probe into the land deals of Vadra in his affluent Gurgaon constituency and be given punishment if he was guilty.
Rao Inderjit will join BJP along with his supporters in the presence of BJP president Rajnath Singh on Thursday at BJP head quarters in Delhi. Senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and party’s Haryana affairs in-charge Dr Harshavardhan and Jagdish Mukhi will also be there at the time of Rao’s joining.
Arun Sangwan, spokesperson of ‘Haryana Insaf Manch’ a non-political outfit, floated by Rao Inderjit Singh last year, said “He would merge his recently registered regional political party Haryana Insaaf Congress in BJP on this occasion.”
Over 125 officer bearers of Manch and Haryana Insaaf Congress party would join BJP along with four former district Congress presidents from Gurgaon, Mahendragarh, Rewari urban and Rewari Rural and Mayor and 20 councilors of Gurgaon Municipal Corporations along with Rao Inderjit Singh. Chaudhary Manphool Singh, former deputy speaker of Haryana in Bansi lal ministry and his son will also join BJP as Rao’s supporters, said Sangwan.
BJP is hoping that with the three-time Congress MP, who has stronghold in the entire Ahirwal belt, joining hands, its graph would go up in Haryana.
After 1999, BJP hardly had anything significant to show in Haryana. In 2009, it had lost all the parliamentary seats despite its poll alliance with the principle Opposition party Indian National lok Dal (INlD) in the State. It could get only one seat from Sonepat constituency in 2004. In 1999 BJP and its ally INlD got five seats each of the ten in the polls.
Rao Inderjit had made his intention to quit the Congress at a public meeting in Pataudi on March 13 last year when he openly accused Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of discrimination against South Haryana in granting development projects and had floated a non-political outfit ‘Haryana Insaf Manch’ to fight against it. He started meeting BJP leaders after the Pataudi rally.
BJP is expected to benefit with the entry of Rao, who has a dedicated support base in the Ahirwal region dominated by Yadavs, inhabiting the Gurgaon-Rewari-Mahendargarh belt.