Manpreet sent his resignation to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He later joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal.
Former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal resigns from Congress https://t.co/eCsklikfev
— TOIChandigarh (@TOIChandigarh) 1674028561000
For Manpreet, BJP will be his fourth party in a political career spanning over 27 years.
Manpreet, who started his career with the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1995, formed the People’s Party of Punjab in 2010 and joined the Congress during the 2014 parliamentary elections. It was only after his defeat in the assembly elections from the Bathinda Urban Assembly constituency that he was away from the political scene for a few months.
In his letter to Rahul Gandhi, Manpreet referred to factionalism in the party in Punjab and said that he was disappointed with the action taken by the party in the state.
He also wrote that he had a tough job on his hands as the Finance Minister but he tried to bring Punjab back on track and single-handedly ensured that Rs 50,000 crore was raised in the state exchequer. However, instead of appreciating this effort, he was maligned in the Punjab Congress.
Manpreet had distanced himself after Gidderbaha MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Waring was appointed as the state Congress president. Just a few days ago, he once again started his tour of Bathinda.
Eyebrows were raised when Manpreet failed to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it entered Punjab a week ago. Even on Tuesday, when the Congress leadership from Bathinda Urban was asked to reach Dasuya town to join the yatra, Manpreet remained absent.
Manpreet was first promoted as finance minister in the SAD-BJP government led by Parkash Singh Badal in 2007 and when the Congress came to power in Punjab in 2017, he was promoted again in the Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh. Made Finance Minister.