Former PDP leader Vikramaditya Singh joins Congress

Former People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Vikramaditya Singh, on Thursday, joined Congress in the presence of senior leaders Ambika Soni and Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Singh is the son of senior Congress leader Karan Singh and the grandson of last ruling Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh.

Expressing happiness, Singh said, "It is a very important day for me as I joined Congress today; my father has been associated with Congress since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru. I joined the PDP in 2014 after Mufti Mohammad Sayeed asked me to. I resigned as the government did not fulfill the promises it made and it felt like the public was being cheated."

Addressing the media, Soni said, "All of us know Vikramaditya Singh. Last year he resigned from his post as the Member of the Legislative Council from the BJP-PDP government after they failed to fulfill their promises. We wanted him to join Congress since then."

Welcoming Singh into the party, Azad said, "He is the elder son of Karan Singh and a political legacy which is centuries old. His father was a cabinet minister in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet, in Indira Gandhi's cabinet. He resigned from the BJP-PDP government as they did the exact opposite of what they promised."

Singh resigned from PDP in October last year, stating that it was not possible for him to work with a party "that continues to disregard the demand and aspirations of Jammu region.