Days after resigning from the party, senior Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi on Thursday, 19 May, in the presence of BJP chief JP Nadda.
"I had to leave my family as they put me on the dock for saying that Punjab cannot be divided along the lines of caste, creed, and religion," Jakhar said, while joining the party.
"I have been associated with the Congress party for 50 years. Three generations of my family have served the party since 1972. I have considered the party my family, and stayed with the Congress in good and bad times... If such a situation arose that I had to leave the party, it is because of some fundamental issues. It was not because of a fight with someone, it was because of nationalism, the unity of Punjab, the brotherhood of Punjab which could not even be destroyed by AK-47 guns."Sunil Jakhar
Leaving Congress 'Broke My Heart': Jakhar
"I have abided by my relationships like my ideals. But when ideals only break... then we have to think in what direction we are going," he said.
He said that leaving Congress was a hard decision which "broke his heart." Jakhar said that his loyalties lie with the nation and the coming day look good for the BJP in Punjab, reported ANI.
Jakhar said, "Nation is bigger than any Parivarvad. My loyalties are to my nation. PM Modi has understood and respected emotion of Punjabiyat. Coming days will be good for BJP in Punjab."
He further stated that a strong opposition is necessary in a democracy. "Congress party should be aware of those who flatter and should take command in their own hands," he said.
"I welcome Sunil Jakhar to Bharatiya Janata Party... He is an experienced political leader who made a name for himself during his political career of decades," the BJP national president said at Jakhar's joining.
"The BJP is taking the first place of nationalist forces in Punjab. That is why it is necessary that all the people having nationalist views should join BJP and strengthen the party," Nadda stated.
‘Right Man in the Right Party’: Amarinder Singh
Meanwhile, Amarinder Singh, former Congress chief minister of Punjab, congratulated Jakhar for joining the saffron party and said that he is the "right man in the right party."
Singh, who had quit Congress and formed his own party last year, tweeted, "Right man in the right party. Congratulations to Sunil Jakhar for joining BJP. Honest and upright leaders like him cannot breathe in the INC anymore."
Ahead of the Assembly elections conducted earlier last year, Singh had formed an alliance with the BJP.
Jakhar's Exit From the Congress
The move by former Punjab Congress chief Jakhar came days after he announced his resignation from the party in a video address on social media while saying, "Goodbye and good luck Congress!"
In a virtual address where he announced his exit, he had said that thousands of party workers cannot express what they truly feel at the 'Chintan Shivir' and trained guns at party leader Ambika Soni for its debacle in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Punjab.
In his address, Jhakhar had said: "I urge you (Sonia Gandhi) to ask Ambika Soni if she knows what is Sikhism."
Jakhar's resignation came weeks after he had lashed out at former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi on Twitter, saying that he was "not an asset" as portrayed by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and called him greedy.
Jakhar had publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the party on several occasions last year while it was going through a turmoil that led to the ouster or former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh from the post and his subsequent resignation from the party.
Jakhar was also seen as somebody who disapproved of the appointment of Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief minister of Punjab following Amarinder Singh's exit.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)