Congress leader Jitin Prasada joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Union Railway Miniter Piyush Goyal at the party headquarters on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Prasada said, "I have a three-generation connection with Congress, so I took this important decision after a lot of deliberation. In the last 8-10 years I have felt that if there is one party that is truly national, it is BJP. Other parties are regional but this is the national party."
Prasada's departure is a fresh blow to the Congress party after another heavyweight leader of the party Jyotiraditya Scindia had joined the BJP in March 2020. Leaders of both the parties have reacted to Prasada's entry into BJP. Congress leader Milind Deora has also reacted to Prasada's exit from Congress. He took to Twitter and wrote,"I believe in @INCIndia as a party that can & must reclaim its position as India’s big tent party. We still have a strong bench that if empowered & optimally utilised, can deliver. I only wish that several of my friends, peers & valued colleagues hadn’t left us."
Jitin Prasad started his career with Indian Youth Congress as a general secretary. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 for the first time. He was also a minister in the UPA government at the Centre.