There Is No Ideology: Prasada Brings up Sena Alliance, Slams Sibal
“Commenting on a small individual like me won’t change the fortune of the Congress,” BJP’s Jitin Prasada said.
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As the former Congress leader Jitin Prasada got recruited to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), several Congress leaders, including the former Union minister Kapil Sibal, voiced their disdain over his decision, bringing his ideological orientations into question.
Speaking to NDTV on Thursday, 10 June, Prasada rebuked, “There's no ideology. The only ideology is national interest.”
Prasada, who was a close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi added further, “He is a very senior leader (Kapil Sibal)... What was the ideology when the Congress aligned with the Shiv Sena? What was the ideology when Congress aligned with the Left in Bengal, and at the same time they were fighting the Left in Kerala,” NDTV quoted him.
“Commenting on a small individual like me won't change the fortune of the Congress," he added.
The politician asserted that the decision to jump ship was a “long thought-out” one and said that his motivation is to work for the people.
“In my states, there was a huge disconnect between the party and people,” News18 quoted the leader.
Prasada, who is a prominent Brahmin face in UP also told NDTV that he was now more in a position to help out the community.
However, commenting on his role within the ruling party, he also added, “BJP has not promised anything…I am not a deal-maker…I have been a Congressman and just because I switched sides, BJP is not going to offer me a position,” according to News18.
What Kapil Sibal Said
Earlier on Thursday, the senior party leader and a member of the so-called Congress G23 group had said:
Talking about the development, he said Indian politics is now based on 'Prasada Ram politics'.
Prasada and Sibal were both among the senior Congress members – coined the G-23 group of leaders – who had penned a letter to interim president Sonia Gandhi in August last year, appealing for ‘visible’ and ‘full-time’ leadership of the party.
The Exit
The exit of Jitin Prasada came on Wednesday, 9 June, ahead of the major Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections early next year.
Prasada had met Home Minister Amit Shah before the switch. He joined the party at the BJP headquarters in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal. Later, he went to meet BJP President JP Nadda.
At his induction, he had said, “The reason why I decided to join the BJP is because I believe it is the only national political party with a strong organisational structure in the country. Other parties are regional but this is a national party. I hope to serve the people under the strong leadership of Narendra Modi.”
He had further said that he was unable to protect the interests of the people or work for them while being in the Congress.
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