Buta Singh quits Congress, to contest Lok Sabha polls on SP ticket

Zee Media Bureau/Deepak Nagpal

Jaipur: In a jolt to the Congress in Rajasthan, former Union home minister Buta Singh quit the party on Friday. As per reports, Buta Singh has joined the Samajwadi Party. He will contest the Lok Sabha elections on SP ticket from Jalore in Rajasthan, reports added. Buta Singh had tried to join the BJP, but talks with the party leadership could not yield any results. Singh, who also served as the Union Agriculture Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet at the Centre between 1984 and 1986, was elected to Lok Sabha eight times between 1962 and 2004. He was Home Minister between 1986 and 1989. Hailing from Jalandhar in Punjab, Singh was also the Governor of Bihar from 2004 to 2006 and a chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes between 2007 and 2010.