Amit Shah with Congress leader Chaudhary Birender Singh at a rally in Jind, Haryana.
Rebel Congress leader Chaudhary Birender Singh today joined the BJP in the presence of its chief Amit Shah at a rally in Jind, Haryana, ending his over four-decade association with the party in poll-bound Haryana.
Mr Singh, 67, a Rajya Sabha member, had openly revolted against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He had announced his decision about joining the BJP two days after he was suspended from the party.
His close confidant Jagbir Malik, a former minister, also joined the BJP.
"The path I have chosen for myself will help strengthen the BJP in Haryana in the next 15 years," Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh and former Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Brar were recently suspended by the Congress for "gross indiscipline" and "deliberately lowering the prestige of the party".
The veteran leader and former Haryana Finance Minister had openly revolted against Mr Hooda. His decision to quit the ruling party has come as another jolt to the Haryana unit of the Congress, which has faced a series of desertions in the election year. Polls are due in October in the state.
Mr Singh had earlier hit out at Mr Hooda, alleging, "The Congress in Haryana is no longer the party it used to be. It has now become Hooda's Congress."
Mr Singh had also alleged that Mr Hooda had centralised powers and it was one of the reasons why the Congress had fared poorly in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress had managed to win only one seat of the ten Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Mr Singh told Mr Shah at the rally that he, along with his supporters, will ensure the party's victory in the upcoming assembly polls that will bring about a change in the state's polity.
A prominent leader from Haryana's Banger area, Mr Singh had demanded that the chief minister be replaced to improve the Congress's prospects in the polls. He had made it clear that he would not fight the assembly polls under Mr Hooda's leadership.
Mr Singh had over the past one year openly criticised Mr Hooda from several platforms for alleged "lopsided development" in the state.
Mr Singh had lost the 2009 Assembly polls to former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala from Uchana Kalan segment.
Mr Hooda, when asked if Mr Singh's decision to leave the party would dent its prospects in the upcoming polls, had said that in a democratic set-up, every leader has the right to join any party.
The chief minister had said that Mr Singh also has right to join any party and this would not affect Congress in any manner.
In the election year, the Haryana Congress unit has been facing an exodus of leaders, some of whom have joined the BJP camp.
Prominent Congress leaders who have switched over to the BJP include Rao Inderjit Singh, who had also been vocal against Mr Hooda.
Mr Inderjit Singh, who was then a Congress Member of Parliament from Gurgaon, severed his four-decade old ties with Congress and contested as the BJP nominee from Gurgaon and retained his seat. He is now a minister in the Narendra Modi government.
Dharambir, a senior leader from Bhiwani region, also switched allegiance to the BJP and is now a MP from the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat.
Former Union minister Venod Sharma had also ended his four- decade old ties with the Congress to float his own Jan Chetna Party.
Ramesh Kaushik had won the Sonepat Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket after quitting the Congress. Last week, four-time Congress MP Avtar Singh Bhadana also resigned from the Congress.