Journalism of Courage
Scoring a symbolic victory over the BJP, the Congress Thursday opened its doors to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla, who had left the saffron party ahead of Chhattisgarh Assembly polls. Minutes after joining the Congress, Shukla attacked the BJP’s PM nominee Narendra Modi, calling his promises of serving the country “dishonest”.
Shukla said the Lok Sabha elections will mark the end of “communal forces”. Congress sources said she may contest from Bilaspur. Shukla had been in the BJP since its inception in 1980. She served as its vice-president thrice, besides representing the party in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. On Thursday, she attacked Modi, saying, “A person who did not fulfil the duty of a husband or raj dharma as the chief minister, if such a person talks about discharging rashtra dharma, I can only call it dishonesty.”
Hours after, suspended TRS MP Vijayashanthi also joined the party. The actor-turned-politician, who represents the Medak Lok Sabha seat, decided to join the Congress after she fell out with TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao.
