Jind (Haryana): Senior Congress leader Birender Singh, who was suspended from the party this week, Saturday joined the BJP in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah and other senior party leaders of Haryana at a rally here.
Birender Singh, the grandson of well known farmers' rights leader Sir Chhotu Ram, is a towering Jat leader in Haryana. His joining the Bharatiya Janata Party will give a boost to the party among the dominant Jat community.
Singh, a former general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), aspired to become Haryana chief minister but the Congress high command did not oblige him.
He was likely to join the UPA government in 2013 but his name was scuttled at the last moment, apparently under pressure from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's camp.
A sitting Rajya Sabha member from Haryana, Singh was upset with the Congress leadership for the past two years and was openly critical of the Haryana chief minister. Both leaders are also related.