In a major setback to the Congress ahead of the 2022 Punjab polls, party MLA and sports minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi jumped ship to the BJP on Tuesday.
Sodhi, considered a close confidant of former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, was part of his cabinet but excluded from new chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s team.
In his resignation letter on Twitter, Sodhi said he was deeply hurt by the constant bickering and infighting in the party. “This is harming the party as well as causing serious problems for the state and government. I feel suffocated and helpless in the present situation, especially when the party has put state’s security and communal harmony at stake.”
He added: “Rather than taking action to restore peace in Punjab, senior Congress leadership is hellbent on destroying the border state for personal gains.”
The 67-year-old has been active in politics since 1973 and is considered one of the tallest leaders of the state. He was elected MLA in 2002 and won successive polls in 2007, 2012 and 2017. In 2018, he was given the post of chief whip of the Congress.
The leader’s move comes amid Captain Amarinder’s assertion that several Congress leaders were in touch with him and would jump ship ahead of the 2022 polls. Captain Amarinder’s Punjab Lok Congress has tied up with BJP for the upcoming elections.
In an interview with CNN-News18 earlier, Singh had said that he wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to campaign for him in the elections. Singh, who has openly criticised Congress after resigning from CM’s chair, said he will campaign for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand polls.
“It will be easy for me to attack the Congress. I would want the PM to campaign for me and I will campaign for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand where there are Sikhs,” he had said.
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