Expelled Congress leader Barkha Singh joins BJP ahead of MCD polls

In another setback for the grand old party, former chairman of Delhi Commission for Women and a Congress loyalist Barkha Shukla Singh joined the BJP on Saturday, one day ahead of the municipal polls. The move came a day after she was expelled from the party for indulging in 'anti-party activities'.

"I have joined the BJP neither to fight elections, nor for any position. I am here to work hard for assignments that I will be given," Singh said.

Like former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, who also recently joined the BJP, Singh praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies and the changes he has made over the past three years.

"I wrote to Modi three years ago, urging him to take up the triple talaq issue for the protection of women. The way he has responded has satisfied me," she said.

Singh, who was Congress' Delhi women's wing chief, was expelled by the party for six years after she attacked its vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken. The disciplinary committee of Congress' Delhi unit said Singh had indulged in 'anti-party activities'. Singh had retaliated to her expulsion on Friday by stating that she would take "legal recourse".

Meanwhile, Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Vijay Goel, who was also present on the occasion, said that Singh's entry has strengthened the BJP.

"Congress leadership at both the national level and Delhi is neither listening to its party members nor satisfying its leaders," Goel said.