Former Haryana finance minister Sampat Singh, who had recently quit the Congress, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the state on Wednesday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He joined the BJP at Meham, shortly before the BJP president was to address an election rally for the October 21 Haryana Assembly polls. Shah and other party BJP leaders present at the dais welcomed Singh into the party fold.
The veteran leader’s decision to quit the Congress came just two weeks ahead of the election. Singh, a minister in the erstwhile Indian National Lok Dal government in the state, had quit the regional party to join the Congress.
Singh said that he had helped the Congress form the government in Haryana in 2009, but he was not given his due.
Announcing his resignation, Sampat Singh said that he took the decision to quit the party after realising that he was not needed there. He said he was peeved at former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for not intervening in ticket allocation for seven seats in Hisar district.
According to him, at least 40 strong party candidates were ignored at the time of ticket allocation. “Only the supporters of leaders like Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja and Kuldeep Bishoi have been given tickets while party workers on the ground have been ignored,” he alleged. In 2009, Sampat Singh had resigned from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and joined the Congress.