JOIN USRambeer Shokeen, who was elected as an independent MLA in the 2013 Aseembly polls in Delhi, today joined Congress along with his wife, saying his "faith in BJP has eroded".
Shokeen, who was elected from Mundka, and his wife Rita Shokeen, a ward councillor in the Narela Zone of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in the same area, joined the party in the presence of DPCC Chief Arvind Singh Lovely and other senior party leaders at the state party's office here.
The duo attributed the reason behind the decision to Congress's earlier 15-year-rule and the "waning away" of faith that people had in BJP.
"This allegation and counter-allegation('aarop-pratyarop') by BJP did not go down well with us. And, add to it lack of work by the party in rural areas," Shokeen said.
He also alleged that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah saying that there was no "dynastic rule in BJP", there was 'parivarwad' (dynastic politics) going around in the party, hinting towards his constituency, which was considered the stronghold of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma.
Shokeen, who hails from a Jat-dominated area Mundka, had defeated Sahib Singh Verma's brother and BJP candidate Azad Singh, also a former mayor of North Delhi, in the last Delhi Assembly polls.
Shokeen, who had earlier shown interest in joining BJP, said that "so far he was an independent and so was my wife. We had no political allegiance until now."
Rita alleged that the BJP-led NDMC did not support the development work that she wanted to carry out in her area, leading to disenchantment with the party.
"So, we decided to join Congress. Lot of good things happened in those 15 years, like the Delhi metro and we are now extending our support to it," Shokeen said.
In the last Assembly polls, held in December 2013, BJP had emerged as the single-largest party winning 31 seats followed by AAP with 28 seats. Congress stood a poor third, with only 8 seats.
The polls for the 70-member Delhi Assembly is likely to be held in February.