Prodigal son Buta Singh returns to Congress fold

Buta Singh, who had, along with former Union Minister Balram Jakhar, moved over to the Lok Sabha Constituencies in Rajasthan from his native Punjab in 1984 at the height of the Sikh militant movement in 1984, had won the Jalore (reserved) seat as an independent in 1998, after being denied the Congress ticket. Thereafter, he lent his support to the BJP and became a minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government. However, he fell out with the BJP when he was removed from the Ministry.

While talking to media persons, he described his decision torebel against the Congress as a “mistake” and claimed that he had only returned home. However, he pointed out that even while extending his support to the Vajpayee Government, he had sworn by his loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family and Sonia Gandhi. As for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, he had not made his entry conditional to the allotment of the party ticket for contesting them. “It is for the high command to decide on it,” he observed.

Girija Vyas also announced the re-admission of former minister Neelima Sharma to the party. She was expelled for six years for contesting the last Assembly election as a rebel candidate.

Vyas expressed the confidence that the Congress would get a majority in the Lok Sabha polls. When her attention was drawn to the observation of senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar that no party would gain a majority, Vyas said that she did not share this perception. She said that she was not aware of the context in which Pawar made the reported remark.