Grandson of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri resigns from Congress, joins BJP

Vibhakar Shastri, Congress leader and grandson of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, resigned from the party on Wednesday

In another setback to the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Vibhakar Shastri, grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, resigned from the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Shastri tagged Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and said, "I hereby tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress."

Hon'ble Congress President Shri @kharge ji!
Respected Sir,
I hereby tender my resignation from the primary membership of Indian National Congress (@INCIndia)
Regards
Vibhakar Shastri

— Vibhakar Shastri (@VShastri_) February 14, 2024

After snapping ties with the grand old party, Vibhakar Shastri joined the BJP in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak.

Speaking to media, Shastri said, "...I think under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I will be able to serve the country by further strengthening Lal Bahadur Shastri's vision of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'..."

 

#WATCH | Vibhakar Shastri says, "...I think under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, I will be able to serve the country by further strengthening Lal Bahadur Shastri's vision of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'..." https://t.co/6zSgwzSJhQ pic.twitter.com/nSdWwnHXIX

— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2024

 "I would like to express gratitude towards PM Narendra Modi, Nadda ji, HM Amit Shah ji, CM Yogi Adityanath ji and Brajesh Pathak for opening the doors of BJP for me. I think that I would get an opportunity to take forward my grandfather Lal Bahadur Shastri's vision. I will work as per the directions of the party leadership... INDIA alliance has no ideology but aims to remove Modi ji...Rahul ji should tell what is even Congress' ideology," he added.

Shastri's resignation comes days after two other Congress stalwarts, Ashok Chavan and Baba Siddique, quit the Maharashtra unit for the party. While Siddique joined Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Chavan went to the BJP's camp.

Another Congress veteran, Milind Deora, quit the party last month and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.