Jolt to Himachal Cong ahead of polls as working prez Mahajan joins BJP

Himachal Pradesh Congress working president Harsh Mahajan joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday and claimed the opposition party has become "vision-less, directionless and leaderless".

A former state government minister and close aide of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who died last year, Mahajan lashed out at the Congress leadership in the state, saying it is very much ruled by "maa-beta" like in Delhi, a swipe at the central leadership as well.

Singh's wife Pratibha Singh is the state Congress president now and their son Vikramaditya Singh is a party MLA. Nothing has been left in the Congress after the death of the former chief minister, he told reporters.

He joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for providing a "strong government".

Goyal said the BJP will script history in the state by retaining power following the polls likely to be held later this year. Mahajan had been with the Congress for over four decades.

Welcoming Mahajan, Goyal said he held important positions in the Congress and has maintained a clean image. The BJP government in the state will be repeated, he claimed.

Mahajan recalled his over four-decade long association with the Congress during which he served at key positions in state government and also in the party organisation.

Only recently, two Congress MLAs from the poll-bound state had joined the BJP, which has been working overtime to retain power after it suffered defeats in the bypolls held there last year.