'Congress has put state’s security & communal harmony at stake': Veteran Punjab Congress leader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi joins BJP

New Delhi, Dec 21: Ahead of Punjab Assembly elections, Punjab Congress leader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi quit his party and joined the BJP on Tuesday, accusing the Congress of putting the state's "security and communal harmony at stake".

 

Sodhi, an MLA who is considered close to former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, announced his resignation from the Congress on Twitter and posted the letter sent to party president Sonia Gandhi. Sodhi is the first sitting MLA and former cabinet minister to quit Congress ever since Amarinder left the party.

 

 

"I cannot accept Punjab's suffocation and helplessness! Congress party has put state's security & communal harmony at stake. With deep agony, I put forth my resignation from all posts & primary membership of Congress party with immediate effect," he said. Later, he joined the BJP in the presence of Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Bhupender Yadav at its headquarters here. The BJP has announced a tie-up with Singh's party - the Punjab Lok Congress.

 

 

 

Noting that he had been in the Congress for over four decades, Sodhi expressed his frustration at the state of affairs in the party, especially Punjab, alleging that its senior leadership is "hell-bent on destroying the border state for their personal gains." Apart from this, he is likely to contest the assembly election from Ferozepore on BJP ticket. Ferozepore is considered a Hindu-dominated constituency. His shift to the BJP comes on a day when Amarinder Singh is holding a rally in Patiala to blow the poll bugle.

 

 

In his resignation letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Sodhi said, “I have been hand-picked by our illustrious leader late Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji to contest my first election to the Punjab State Assembly from Guru Har Sahai Assembly Constituency in Ferozepur district in 1985. I have all through been a hardcore worker of the party with unflinching loyalty through the thick and thin. I have contested and won Punjab Assembly elections from Guru Har Sahai constituency consecutively four times from 2002 till date. l am deeply hurt by the bickering and in-fighting within the Punjab Congress. This is damaging the party as well as causing serious problems for the state and the government. I feel suffocated and helpless in the present situation, especially when the party has put state’s security and communal harmony at stake. Rather than taking action to restore peace in Punjab, the senior Congress leadership is hell bent on destroying the border state for their personal gains.”