Sampat Singh quits Congress, speculation rife he may join BJP

Former Haryana Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Prof Sampat Singh on Monday resigned from the Congress alleging he has not been given his due in the party.

"I have quit the Congress," he told reporters here.

Though he did not clear if he will be joining the BJP or any other outfit, Singh, however, said he will ensure that security of the Congress candidates in Hisar region is forfeited.


The veteran leader''s decision to quit came just two weeks ahead of the 90-member Haryana Assembly polls to be held on October 21.

Singh, who was a minister in the erstwhile INLD government in the state and had quit the regional party to join the Congress, said though he helped the Congress to come to power in Haryana in 2009, he did not get his due.

He was an aspirant from Nalwa segment for the upcoming polls but did not get the Congress ticket.

Singh said he was surprised former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda did not intervene in ticket allocation in Hisar district.

Asked if Sampat Singh could join BJP, Chief Minister M L Khattar while speaking to reporters in Rohtak on Sunday had praised him, saying, "He is a good person. When he was in the government his performance was good. If he joins, then we will let you know."

On Saturday, former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar resigned from the Congress, alleging it was going through "existential crisis" "because of serious internal contradictions".

He had been miffed with the Congress ever since he was replaced as state Congress chief by Kumari Selja last month. Last week, he and his supporters protested outside Sonia Gandhi''s residence in Delhi, alleging corruption in distribution of tickets for the October 21 Haryana assembly polls.