In yet another jolt to the Congress ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election next year, former Union Minister Jitin Prasada, once part of Rahul Gandhi’s inner circle, joined the BJP here on Wednesday. He said three generations of his family had associated  with the Congress, but now the BJP has replaced the Congress as the national party. He said there is no purpose in continuing with a party if it is unable to use those who are associated with it for long and be of service to the people.

‘Sad development’

The Congress said the party had given him a number of responsibilities when he was in Congress. “His decision to leave the Congress is a sad development. But he chose a time when lakhs of people are dying  due to Covid-19 and he joins a party that did not care for the people at the time of a pandemic. He must understand politics is not always about power. It is also about ideologies. There are certain principles in politics,” said Congress spokeswoman Supriya Shirnate.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal welcomed Prasada to the BJP. He said Prasada’s popularity  in Uttar Pradesh and his capabilities as an administrator and organiser will be used by the BJP.

‘Truly national party’

Prasada said the move  to join BJP was taken 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,” he said.

BJP leader and former  colleague of Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia said,  “He is like my younger brother, and I welcome him to BJP. ”  Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also welcomed Prasada.

Before joining the BJP, Prasada met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The BJP had faced setbacks in the district panchayat polls held recently.

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