Punjab's ex-minister Manpreet Singh Badal joins BJP after quitting Congress

New Delhi, Jan 18: Senior Congress leader and former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday.

Badal reached the BJP headquarters in Delhi to join the party after resigning from the Congress.

In his resignation letter to Rahul Gandhi, Badal said he was "disillusioned" by the Congress. "I devoted every ounce of energy to every office I have had the honour of holding, both in the party and the government. I thank you for having provided me these opportunities and for the kindness and courtesy you have shown me in the past," he said in the letter which he posted on his Twitter handle.

pic.twitter.com/btAyazaiYX

— Manpreet Singh Badal (@MSBADAL) January 18, 2023

"Regretfully, given the prevalent culture within the party and the defiant desire in the present course, I no longer wish to be a part of the Indian National Congress," he said.

Badal, who served as the finance minister in the previous Congress government, said, "Seven years ago, I merged the People's Party of Punjab with your party. I did so with immense hope and an expectation of being integrated into an organisation with a rich history that would allow me to serve both the people of Punjab and its interests to the best of my ability.

"Initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to disappointing disillusionment," he added.

Badal, in his resignation letter, said, "The task of the finance minister of Punjab is never easy. I inherited an exchequer in shambles. It was truly on the brink of a total collapse." "I could either choose to continue to ignore numerical realities and pursue populist policies that would unequivocally exacerbate Punjab's problems to the point where a financial emergency would be imminent or I could accept the fact that difficult decisions were desperately needed and assiduously adhere to fiscal discipline. I chose the latter," he wrote.

"In doing so, I convincingly pleaded Punjab's case to the 15th Finance Commission and the GST Council and prevailed upon them to treat the state favourably. I do not believe I am exaggerating in saying that I almost single-handedly succeeded in garnering an additional Rs 50,000 crore for the state exchequer which would not ordinarily have been acquired," Badal said. He claimed the way the Congress has conducted its affairs and taken decisions, especially concerning Punjab, "has been disheartening, to say the least."

"The coterie of men entrusted with the authority to dictate Delhi's writ to the Punjab unit of the Congress are far from sound. Instead of striving to reduce internal disagreement in an already divided house, these men acted to further increase factionalism and almost as a matter of policy strengthened the very worst elements within the party," he wrote.

The nephew of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal joined the Congress in 2016. Last year, former chief minister Amarinder Singh and Sunil Jakhar, among other leaders, joined the BJP.

After Badal lost the Bathinda Urban seat in the 2022 state assembly polls, he was not visible in the party's meetings. The differences between him and the Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring were known in the party circles. He had been with the Shiromani Akali Dal earlier and had also been the finance minister in the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime.

Taking a swipe at Badal, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "A man who left the Akali Dal to make his own party and then joined the Congress, was made finance minister for five years, then lost by a record margin of over 60,000 and thereafter went into hibernation now joins BJP." "Punjab Congress par se badal chhat gaye hain (clouds over the Punjab Congress have cleared)," Ramesh said in Hindi.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring dubbed Badal's resignation from the party as "good riddance" and termed him "congenitally power hungry".