NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday lost yet another prominent leader to the BJP as former Union minister Jitin Prasada quit the party to join the saffron camp.
Prasada, who wields considerable influence among the Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh, joined the BJP at party headquarters in presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal.
Soon after joining the BJP, Prasada praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said “If there is any political party or a leader standing for the interests of the nation today, given the situation that our country is going through, it is the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
He called the BJP the only party that is “truly national”. “I have a three-generation connection with the Congress, so I took this important decision after a lot of deliberation. In the last 8-10 years I have felt that if there is one party that is truly national, it is BJP. Other parties are regional but this is national party,” Prasada said.
Prasada’s switch to the BJP may help the party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled next year. A known Brahmin face in central UP, Prasada had formed the Brahmin Chetna Parishad and has been consistently taking about issues related to the community.
The former Union minister, who was once considered close to Rahul Gandhi, was unhappy with the functioning of the Congress. He was part of the G23 (Group of 23)leaders, who had written to Sonia Gandhi last year demanding sweeping changes in the organisation.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sanjay Singh, Radhakrishna Vikhe, Tom Vadakkan, Rita Bahuguna Joshi are some of the known faces who have joined the BJP after quitting the Congress in the past few years.
Jitin Prasada was the Congress in charge for the West Bengal assembly elections where the party registered its worst ever performance. He had raised questions about the party’s alliance in Bengal for the elections.
Jitin Prasada had won from Shahjahanpur and Dhaurahra Lok Sabha constituencies in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
He had served as the MoS form Steel from April 2008 to May 2009 in UPA-I government. He also held the portfolios of Minister of State, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Road Transport and Highways, and Human Resource Development in UPA-II.
Prasada is the son of Congress veteran Jitendra Prasada who had served as the political advisor to former prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao.
(With inputs from agencies)
Comments are closed.