Haryana Congress faces setback as Kiran Choudhary and daughter join BJP

In a significant blow to the Congress in Haryana ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in October, senior party leader Kiran Choudhary and her daughter, Shruti Choudhary, will join the ruling BJP on Wednesday.

Kiran Choudhary, who is currently a sitting MLA, confirmed to PTI that she is leaving the Congress to join the BJP. Her daughter, Shruti Choudhary, a former MP and working president of the Haryana Congress, will also make the switch.

Kiran Choudhary, the daughter-in-law of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal, has had longstanding differences with senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda. She is reportedly displeased with the Congress's decision to deny Shruti Choudhary a ticket from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh constituency in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Instead, the ticket was given to Rao Dan Singh, a sitting MLA and Hooda loyalist, who subsequently lost to BJP's Dharambir Singh.

"They have pushed me into a corner. There is a limit to humiliation one can suffer," Choudhary stated, taking an indirect jab at Hooda.

Both Kiran and Shruti Choudhary will resign from their primary memberships in the Congress. Shruti will also step down from her role as working president of the Haryana Congress. "Shruti and I will be joining the BJP in Delhi on Wednesday," Kiran Choudhary added.

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, both the Congress and the BJP secured five seats each in Haryana.