Congenitally power hungry: Cong Punjab chief slams Manpreet Singh Badal after saffron switch

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], January 18 (ANI): Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday hit out at Manpreet Singh Badal following his switchover to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling him “congenitally power hungry”.

Hours after resigning from the Congress on Wednesday, Badal joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goel and BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh. Raja Warring alleged that Badal had joined the Congress in anticipation that it was winning the last Assembly polls.

“Good riddance. @MSBADAL is congenitally power-hungry. He joined @INCIndia knowing the party was winning (the Punjab Assembly polls). 5 yrs is a long time for someone like him to stay out of power for unknown reasons. Instead of crying martyrdom, he should be apologising to Congress for betrayal,” tweeted the Congress state president.

Badal on Wednesday resigned from the primary membership of the Congress alleging that the party’s state unit was actively aiding and abetting ‘factionalism’.
A nephew of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Manpreet Badal started his political career in 1995, winning the Gidderbaha Assembly bye-election on a Congress ticket.

BJP is the fourth party that Badal joined in an almost three-decade-long political career. He had previous dalliances with the People’s Party of Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal and most recently, the Congress.

According to reports, he had a tenous working relationgship with the Congress state chief Raja Warring and his resignation is being seen as a fallout of his differences with him.

Speaking to mediapersons after his saffron switch, Badal said, ” Main aaya BJP office mein, aapne mujhe hatho pe nahi aankho pe bitha lia (I came to the BJP office and they accorded me a rousing reception).”

In a parting shot at his former party earllier, Badal wrote to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claiming that a coterie of leaders based in the national capital, New Delhii, was running party affairs in the state and it had given rise to factionalism.
He added that the way the Congress was conducted itself and taking decisions, especially with regard to Punjab, was ‘disappointing’.

Exploiting cracks in the Congress amid alleged factionalism in its Punjab unit, the BJP had earlier weaned away a dozen former party leaders, including heavyweights Captain Amarinder Singh and Sunil Jakhar.