Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 30
The Congress today suffered a severe setback in Uttar Pradesh with sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Sinh, the party’s most trusted aide in Amethi, quitting ranks to join the BJP.
Sinh’s wife Ameeta, who chaired the UP chapter of All India Professional Congress until Monday, also resigned as did Sinh from Rajya Sabha.
The couple quit, saying they were feeling wasted in the Congress and wanted to contribute towards nation-building which was why they were joining the BJP.
“There is a complete vacuum in the Congress, a state of hopelessness with no clarity about the future. Dialogue is the soul of democracy. But there is lack of dialogue in Congress. For years, I have watched a state of inertia in the party. Even today, no decision has been taken for two months on party presidency. Congress is in a time warp with no forward movement,” Sinh said.
Asked what changed for him to suddenly value the BJP, Sinh said: “This is a well thought-out move. The country has accepted PM Narendra Modi and rejected Rahul Gandhi and we have decided to stand with the nation. We have nothing against Gandhis but we don’t want to waste ourselves.”
The exit is being seen in Congress circles as a massive jolt to the party’s first family — the Gandhis — in Amethi, which Rahul just lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani.
Sanjay Sinh has long been Congress’ principal link in Amethi, which falls under the supervision of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the AICC general secretary in charge of East UP.
With today’s developments, Sanjay Sinh’s family’s 135-year-old association with the Nehru-Gandhi clan came to an end. The association dates back to 1884 when Motilal Nehru, father of India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, represented Sanjay Sinh’s grandfather Raja Baksh Singh, the erstwhile king of Amethi, in a property matter across judicial levels.
Later, when late Sanjay Gandhi was to be launched in politics, then PM Indira Gandhi consulted Amethi’s Raja Rananjay Singh, father of Sanjay Sinh.
“My father invited Sanjay Gandhi to contest from Amethi in 1977 when he was starting his career. Sanjay lost that election but won in 1980. Ever since our family’s links with Gandhis have remained intact as has the Gandhi hold on Amethi until 2019,” Sinh told The Tribune.
Sanjay Sinh had once briefly crossed over to the BJP and defeated Congress’ Satish Sharma in Amethi parliamentary poll in 1998.
This time, however, his crossover appears permanent. Asked if he would return to Congress like he did in the past, he said: “Your question has no basis.”
Sinh’s exit on the eve of 12 assembly byelections in UP could prove costly for the Congress as it would trigger a wave of defections. Ameeta Sinh today warned: “Wait and see who all come to BJP with us.”
‘Nation rejected Rahul’
This (joining BJP) is a well thought-out move. The country has accepted PM Narendra Modi and rejected Rahul Gandhi and we have decided to stand with the nation. We have nothing against Gandhis but we don’t want to waste ourselves. — Sanjay Sinh, Former Rajya sabha member
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