Himachal Assembly polls: 26 Congress leaders join BJP; Jairam says BJP will rule for 25 years

Shimla: Several state Congress leaders and members of the state including Dharampal Thakur Khand, the former general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee, joined the BJP on Monday, days ahead of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

A total of 26 leaders of the Congress party quit and joined the ruling BJP with four days to go for the vote to be cast. This comes as a big jolt to the Congress party with less than a week to go for the polling, according to news agency ANI.

On Monday, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur made light of the Himachal Pradesh “convention” of electing a new party ever assembly poll and predicted that the BJP was set to be in government in the state over the next 25 years.

Addressing poll meetings in Banjar in Kullu district and Chaupal in Shimla, the CM said Congress leaders claim it is their “turn” this time. “We tell them that they used say the same thing in Uttarakhand and other states. What happened there? Did they come to power again?”

Among those who joined hands with the BJP include former Congress general secretary Dharampal Thakur, former secretary Akash Saini, former councillor Rajan Thakur, former district vice president Amit Mehta, Mehr Singh Kanwar, Youth Congress Rahul Negi, Jai Maa Shakti social sansthan president Joginder Thakur, Naresh Verma, Chamyana ward member Yogendra Singh, taxi union member Rakesh Chauhan, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage Shimla president Dharmendra Kumar, Virendra Sharma, Rahul Rawat, Sonu Sharma, Arun Kumar, Shivam Kumar, Gopal Thakur.

The leaders jumped the boat in the presence of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and BJP’s Sudhan Singh, incharge of BJP state elections. BJP candidate from Shimla, Sanjay Sood was also present on the occasion.

Others who switched sides along with them are Chaman Lal, District Congress Committee secretary Devendra Singh, Mahendra Singh, former general secretary of Youth Congress Munish Mandla, Balkrishna Bobby, Sunil Sharma, Surendra Thakur, Sandeep Samta and Ravi.

Chief Minister Jairam Thakur extended a warm welcome to all the workers in the BJP.

“Let us work together for the historic victory of the BJP,” he said.

Earlier, BJP national president JP Nadda exuded confidence in the party’s victory ahead of the Himachal assembly elections and said that the people of the state trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He lauded Chief Minister Jairam Thakur for his governance in the poll-bound state and said that he implemented policies on the ground.

While talking to the media persons in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan, he said, “We are conducting public outreach programme in Solan. People are excited and have trust in PM Modi. CM Jairam Thakur has implemented policies on the ground in the state.”

Himachal will go to polls on November 12, the counting of votes will take place on December 8.

With inputs from agencies

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