Ex-Union minister Birender Singh, wife Prem Lata join Congress
New Delhi (PTI): Former Union minister Birender Singh and his ex-MLA wife Prem Lata joined the Congress on Tuesday, a decade after quitting the party.
Their joining comes a month after their son Brijendra Singh, an outgoing MP from Hisar, joined the Congress after quitting the BJP.
Birender Singh (78) is the maternal grandson of farmer leader Sir Chhotu Ram and had quit the Congress in 2014 to join the BJP.
He was Union minister for steel in the first government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also held the charge of rural development, panchayati raj, and drinking water and sanitation.
On his return to the Congress, Birender Singh said, "It is not just my 'ghar wapsi' but also 'vichar wapsi'."
"It is the return of my ideology. If we have to save democracy, we have to rise and speak up against the government," he said.
"The mood is changing in the country and it is because of the wrong policies of the government," he said.
He said he had met Sonia Gandhi the day he left the Congress and said for some reason he had to quit the Congress.
"I have done politics by annoying my superiors in the party," he admitted.
"I tried to resolve the farmer issues during their agitation. What has the farmer or the poor got even 33 years after economic reforms. Farmers have not got justice yet.
"But, the BJP is far from reality and one should not expect anything from the BJP. They shed artificial tears for the poor and do not mean anything for them," Singh alleged.
He said five hours before he was inducted into the cabinet, the prime minister met me, and "I told him that I am not one of those who would badmouth leaders and the party I have left behind."
Welcoming Birender Singh and Prem Lata into the Congress, party leader Mukul Wasnik said, "With their joining, I am sure the Congress will be strengthened in Haryana and help form the Congress government in the state."
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, "With his (Birender Singh) rejoining, he has proved the age-old saying, 'East or West, Home is the best'. He is my elder brother and I am very happy about his return to the Congress fold."
"We need to increase our strength by displaying unity and only then will we be able to save democracy and the Constitution," Hooda said.
AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala said, "This is an emotional moment for me and I welcome him into the party fold."
Other Congress leaders, including Kumari Selja, Haryana party chief Uday Bhan, former Haryana Assembly speaker Kiran Chaudhary, former Punjab deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and AICC OBC Cell head Capt Ajay Singh, Naseer Hussain and Pawan Khera were also present on the occasion.
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Edited photo of Actor Prakash Raj taking dip at Maha Kumbh Mela goes viral, complaint filed
Bengaluru: Actor Prakash Raj on Tuesday clarified that a photo of him taking a holy dip at the Maha Kumbh Mela, which is doing rounds across social media platforms, was fake. The multilingual actor has filed a police complaint against the miscreants in this regard.
The digitally manipulated image was posted by an account named Prashant Sambaragi, captioned: "Actor Prakash Raj at the Kumbh Mela. He bathed in the Triveni Sangam. Let's hope that his sins are washed away." The image also bizarrely showed the actor’s hand blending into an artificial design, suggesting the use of AI editing.
Taking to ‘X,’ actor Prakash Raj clarified that it was fake news. He stated, "Fake news. The job of the cowardly army of the 'False King' is to spread fake news and defile even their holy worship. A police complaint has been filed. Let's see what they do in the courtroom."
ಸುಳ್ಳು ಸುದ್ದಿ
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) January 28, 2025
“ಸುಳ್ಳ ರಾಜ” ನ ಹೇಡಿಗಳ ಸೈನ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ .. ಅವರ ಪವಿತ್ರ ಪೂಜೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಸುಳ್ಳು ಸುದ್ದಿ ಹಬ್ಬಿಸಿ ಹೊಲಸು ಮಾಡುವುದೇ ಕೆಲಸ .. police complaint ದಾಖಲಾಗಿದೆ .. ಕೋರ್ಟಿನ ಕಟಕಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಏನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೋ ನೋಡೋಣ 😊 #justasking pic.twitter.com/S6ySeyFKmh
