Splits costs INLD again, Nalwa MLA joins BJP

HISAR: Haryana’s main opposition party, INLD, suffered another setback on Thursday after its MLA from Nalwa constituency, Ranbir Singh Gangwa, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi.


Gangwa served the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) for nearly 20 years. Though he had spoken of joining BJP due to the work done by it at Centre and in the state, he said on Friday that infighting made him leave INLD.

Speaking to media at his Kaimri Road residence here, Gangwa the BJP had strengthened the people’s confidence in the government. “People consider themselves safe in the hands of (PM Narendra) Modi ji. Development in Haryana has been transparent, so I have decided to join BJP,” he said.

Gangwa said he had worked on many posts in INLD over the years. “During this, (former CM) Om Prakash Chautala honored me with respect, but internal discord became acute after the Gohana Rally (after which Chauta’s son Ajay and MP grandson Dushyant Chautala formed Jannayak Janata Party). It was uncomfortable to work in the party after this,” he said.

Gangwa said workers and supporters of INLD were also forced to leave and he had the option of joining JJP, Congress and BJP. “By joining JJP, I did not want to get into a dispute. On the other hand, BJP leaders had been in constant touch with me and I decided to join BJP,” he said.

He said the policies of BJP chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had influenced him “greatly” in the past four and a half years, especially when it came to transparency in appointments to government jobs. “Today, labourers, small farmers, small shopkeepers and any regular person cane get a government job through hard work; this is a huge achievement for the Khattar government,” he said. He said he would do his best to strengthen the party.

INLD made him MP

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) made Ranbir Gangwa its Rajya Sabha MP in 2010. He resigned from the post of MP for contesting the assembly election from Nalwa seat in 2014. In the election, he defeated now-defunct Haryana Janhit Congress candidate Chandermohan and Sampat Singh of the Congress.