As a BJP MP in Haryana changes sides, and his father waits to jump ship, how Congress is strengthened

The BJP’s Hisar MP Brijendra Singh resigned as MP and joined the Congress on Sunday citing “compelling political reasons”.

“I had to take this decision due to discomfort following some political reasons and ideological differences on issues including farmers, Agniveer (scheme) and (agitating) wrestlers,” he said after joining the Congress.

Brijendra is the son of veteran BJP leader Chaudhary Birender Singh who, according to Congress leader Ajay Maken, will soon follow in the footsteps of his son and join the grand old party at a public meeting.

In the past, the father-son duo often defied the BJP’s stand on several issues. In 2020, they sided with the protesting farmers to demand the withdrawal of the now-repealed farm laws. They also expressed solidarity with wrestlers who protested against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment.

The Hisar MP said the BJP’s decision to ally with the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) was also one of the reasons for his exit from the party. Last October, at a rally in Jind, Birender warned the BJP that he would leave the party if it allied with the JJP for the Lok Sabha polls.

Brijendra defeated Chautala by more than two lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the BJP swept the state, winning all 10 seats. However, a few months later in the Assembly elections, the JJP chief defeated Brijendra’s mother Prem Lata by more than 40,000 votes from Uchana Kalan.

Following the elections, the BJP allied with the JJP, a move that did not go down well with the Singhs as the contenders for the Hisar seat began to grow, especially with the induction of former Hisar MP Kuldeep Bishnoi into the BJP in