20 Cong, INLD leaders set to join BJP today

Even as the flock of BJP ticket-seekers is swelling with every passing day, at least 20 Congress and Indian National Lok Dal leaders are likely to join the saffron party at a rally of its national president Amit Shah at Mahendergarh on Thursday.

Sources in the BJP informed HT that the ticket aspirants who were likely to join BJP included former minister and two-time MLA from Hathin Harsh Kumar of Haryana Vikas Party, which merged with Congress; INLD’s sitting MLA from Israna Krishan Panwar and former MLA (independent) from Nuh Habib-ur-Rehman, who is the son of former Congress MP Rahim Khan (1984-1989), besides others.

Sources also said that several other Congress and INLD leaders were also likely to join the BJP at the rally of Congress’ sitting Rajya Sabha member and AICC general secretary Birender Singh on August 16 at Jind in which Shah would also be present.

According to information, joining of leaders from other parties focused in the said two rallies as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s function at Kaithal on August 19 was scheduled to be official in which Modi was to lay the foundation stone for the four-laning of Ambala-Hisar road.

State BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma, though, held that many from Congress and INLD were keen to join his party, he refused to name them. “However, since ours is a well organised party, we plan to announce the candidates around August 20 and we have already gathered feedback of the workers from from across the state ,” he said.