Months before the assembly elections, the Haryana Congress suffered a huge setback as its sitting MLA Kiran Choudhry resigned from the party and joined the BJP on Wednesday. Kiran Choudhry's daughter Shruti also joined the saffron party in the presence of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and former Chief Minister ML Khattar. Kiran is the daughter-in-law of former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal.
"Today, I took the membership of Bharatiya Janata Party along with my workers for the purpose of developed region and state for the concept of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and one India, great India," she said in a tweet. "Our promise is that following the footsteps of Choudhary Bansi Lal ji, we will always remain dedicated to the welfare of Haryana and the people of the region."
Kiran is a five-time MLA and two-time former Cabinet Minister. She is the sitting MLA from Tosham, which falls under the Bhiwani district.
In her resignation letter, Kiran, who was reportedly upset with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda over the denial of the Lok Sabha ticket to Shruti, said that the Congress in Haryana was being run as the personal fiefdom, "leaving no space for sincere like mine, who have been stifled humiliated and conspired against in a most well-orchestrated and systematic manner".
BJP's National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said the saffron party had good relations with former CM Banshi Lal's family. "This is a very big family, a very big vote bank. Though only two people have been given membership, but, it is a very big group of supporters," he said.
Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar says, "Today is a very historic day. Today, two prominent personalities are in the party, who have worked in Congress for many years. I have known Kiran ji since the time we worked with Bansi Lal ji. Kiran ji and I used to sit face to face in the assembly, but, after some time we used to know what we wanted to say."