Jammu, Aug 24: A Congress leader and a former police officer on Saturday joined the BJP along with dozens of their supporters here, vowing to work for the party’s success in the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina welcomed the new entrants at two separate functions in the party headquarters. He described the pre-poll alliance of the Congress and National Conference (NC) as an outcome of the “growing popularity” of the BJP.
At the first function, former SSP Mohan Lal joined the BJP, a day after his application for voluntary retirement from service was accepted.
“Today, I am joining the world’s largest political party which is nationalistic by its ideology and working for nation-building. I am influenced by the central and J&K party leadership and workers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah,” Lal, who is likely to be given a party ticket from the Akhnoor Assembly constituency, said.
The former SSP said he will work to ensure the party achieves its target of 50-plus seats in the elections.
Welcoming Lal in the party fold, Raina said the continuous joining of prominent personalities like former minister Choudhary Zulfikar Ali and former MLC Murtaza Khan in the BJP has unnerved the Congress and the NC, forcing the two parties to join hands in the run-up to the Assembly polls.
