In a highly anticipated move, one day after leaving National Conference, Devender Rana joined BJP on Monday.
Another party leader Surjit Singh Slathia followed suit and joined the ruling BJP party.
Mr. Rana and Mr. Slathia joined the BJP at its headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Hardeep Singh Puri and Jitendra Singh.
Mr. Rana, who is a former MLA and the younger brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, has also served as a political advisor to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah.
Mr. Rana has been advocating for the Jammu declaration – a joint declaration of several political, social and business organisations, primarily demanding restoration of statehood for the Jammu region and not for the whole Jammu and Kashmir.
“Jammu also has the right to have a political narrative for Jammu and Kashmir,” he said after joining the BJP. There are some people who want to weaken the ethos of Jammu and Kashmir. We are sure in national interest the party will take people of Jammu and Kashmir forward, Devender Rana added.