CHANDIGARH, May 10: Several senior Bahujan Samaj Party leaders and hundreds of their supporters today joined the Congress. They were inducted into the party by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh in presence of party leaders, legislators and ex ministers.
Prominent among those who joined the party today included Surjit Singh, Gurdev Singh, Jarnail Singh, Resham Singh, Manjit Kaur, Gurdev Singh Lehri, Bihari Singh and Engineer Yadvinder Singh.Welcoming them into the party fold, Capt Amarinder said, the Congress always stood for secularism and inclusive growth. He said, the BSP leaders will further strengthen the party. He maintained that only the Congress had been advocating the cause of the downtrodden and less privileged sections of the society.Responding to their demand that they and their supporters only wanted respect, honour and recognition in the Congress, the PCC President said, every party worker is respected in the party. He pointed out, unlike other parties the Congress was a democratic party and was not run by the personal whims and fancies of the individuals. He promised them that the mission and intent with which they had joined the Congress will be fulfilled.
Talking to reporters the BSP leaders, who included Surjit Singh from Bathinda, Jarnail Singh from Mansa and others said, they were disillusioned with the BSP since the party state president Avtar Karimpuri and the party in charge for Punjab Narinder Kashyap were hand in glove with the ruling Akali-BJP alliance. They revealed that the BSP leadership had reached a secret understanding with the ruling alliance in Punjab as they were scared of Capt Amarinder Singh.
Promising to support the Congress without any conditions, they said, their only aim was to ensure that the Congress won the assembly elections and Capt Amarinder Singh becomes the Chief Minister again. They said, since they had seen his previous tenure they were confident that under his leadership Punjab can have all round development and all sections of people will be happy.