A day after parting ways with the Congress in Haryana, Kiran Choudhry, a five-time MLA, along with her daughter Shruti Choudhry, has joined the BJP. Choudhry, 69, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform India by 2047 made her join the BJP. Haryana will vote for a new government later this year.
“Today, I took this decision because of the Prime Minister, who has pledged to have a developed India by 2047. I have full faith that India will shine in the world. The public welfare work done by the Prime Minister has led to the formation of a BJP government in Delhi for the third time,” she said.
Kiran Choudhry, who is the daughter-in-law of the late former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal, made these remarks as she joined the BJP in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, and other party leaders.
The senior politician accused the party’s state unit of running it like a “personal fiefdom,” indirectly referencing former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and resigned from the primary membership of Congress on Tuesday.
“I have worked a lot with Khattar ji. There used to be a lot of bitterness between us. But the way he worked has been my source of inspiration,” she added.
Alleging that the Haryana Congress became an “individual-centric party”, Choudhry said, “I was a dedicated worker of the Congress. I dedicated my life to Congress. But for a few years, I watched the Haryana Congress become an individual-centric party. They didn’t want Congress to go ahead and follow such policies. So, you can understand that Congress would never have progressed in Haryana. Big leaders quit the party due to them. I took this step to ensure that my workers get their due rights and equal rights.”
Shruti Choudhry served as the working president of the Haryana Congress unit and is the sitting MLA from Tosham in Bhiwani district, Haryana. She is seen as an adversary of Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Kiran Choudhry was reportedly unhappy with the Congress’s decision to deny Shruti a ticket for the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, as well as the overall ticket allocation in the state. The Congress contested nine out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, and AAP, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, contested and lost the Kurukshetra seat. The Congress won five seats.