BJP inducts Kripa Shankar ahead of BMC elections

After resigning from the Congress in September 2019, Kripa Shankar Singh wanted to join the BJP. File pic/Satej Shinde

Former Mumbai Congress president and minister of state for home, Kripa Shankar Singh, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after lying low for about two years since quitting the century-old party, saying he did not agree with its stand to oppose abrogation of Article 370.

Singh was welcomed in the BJP on Wednesday in the presence of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, former Congress leader and BJP's Allahabad MP Rita Bahuguna. The induction happened at the birth anniversary function of the founder president of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the predecessor to the BJP, late Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who launched the party's agitation for abrogation of Article 370 many decades ago, and died in state custody during one such agitation in Srinagar.

"We're inducting a leader who was the first in the country to quit the Congress on the issue of Article 370. He wrote to Sonia Gandhi requesting her to support the PM's stand on Kashmir. When the support did not come, he wrote again to Gandhi, telling her that he was quitting the Congress in protest," said Fadnavis, while welcoming Singh to the BJP fold. Patil said Singh's outreach in the north Indian population was unparalleled and he had a vast experience in politics.

Singh told mid-day, "I will abide by the BJP's ideology and agenda. I will try my best to shoulder the responsibility the party thinks I'm suitable for."

After resigning from the Congress in September 2019, Singh, 70, wanted to join the BJP, but he had to wait till Wednesday. Before he left the Congress camp, Singh was charged for amassing assets disproportionate to his and his family's income. In 2012, the Bombay High Court had asked state police and the Enforcement Directorate to probe Singh's assets. In 2018, the special court discharged him because the prosecution did not have the Assembly's Speaker's sanction to prosecute him.

Singh did not join any other party despite the Congress joining the ruling MVA and wooing the leaders to return home. He stayed connected to the people and the BJP. Four months ago, he organised a Sankalp Yatra to reach out to the one lakh north Indian households in Mumbai and around. The north Indian voters are crucial for the BJP to better its 2017 performance in next year's Mumbai civic polls. With Singh joining the rank, the party has an influential leader to lobby for north Indian votes.

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