Family saddened by Daljeet Singh`s move to join BJP: PM`s kin

Indore: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s nephew Mandeep Singh Kohli on Saturday said the entire family was "saddened" by Daljeet Singh Kohli`s move to join BJP and accused the saffron party of trying to drive a wedge between two brothers. He said BJP has resorted to doing such things due to "imminent defeat" of its senior leader Arun Jaitley in Amritsar elections. "But that party will not get anything out of it as Daljeet has no political base in Amritsar," Mandeep said.

He said BJP and Daljeet have done a "very bad thing". "..People should not do such things in politics and such acts do not augur well for the family. The entire family is saddened by this," Mandeep, who arrived here in connection with his business, told reporters. "My family and Daljeet Singh have very good relations with the Prime Minister, and his (PM`s) wife Gurusharan Kaur always maintained a live contact with the entire family," he said. Mandeep claimed that even he had got an offer to join BJP but declined it as his entire family has been in Congress since the beginning and "will remain with it till last breath". To a query, Mandeep said he was not aware about what BJP had offered to his uncle for joining the party. "Only he (Daljeet) will be able to reveal about it," he added. He said former Punjab chief minister and Congress nominee Captain Amarinder Singh will win the Amritsar contest against Jaitley. "BJP is already in trouble because of intense infighting among its leaders and now it has indulged in pitting a brother against another brother," he said. In a major embarrassment to the Congress, Kohli had yesterday joined BJP at a public rally in Amritsar in the presence of the party`s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying he was "depressed" over the plight the Congress has landed itself in.