Uttarakhand: Congress MP Satpal Maharaj joins BJP

Dehradun: Senior Congress leader Satpal Maharaj on Friday resigned from the Congress. He also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party later in the day and addressed a press conference with Rajnath Singh. On joining the BJP, he said, "Modi will take the country to new heights of development," he said.The senior leader, who is a sitting member of parliament from the Paudhi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttarakhand, has been sulking for some time after he was sidelined.His supporters told IANS that Maharaj was "feeling suffocated" in the party.[caption id="attachment_1444113" align="alignleft" width="380"] Satpal Maharaj. IBN Live.[/caption]Maharaj has a massive following in the hill state and elsewhere because of his religious sermons, and was first angry at being sidestepped and Harish Rawat being appointed the chief minister.But he decided to quit after his choice of candidates in the Garhwal region was not agreed to by the Congress high command.Chief Minister Harish Rawat had met him recently to pacify him, but with little success.His wife Amrita Rawat is a Congress legislator. The fate of the Congress government in the hill state is also likely to be challenged by Satpal Maharaj's exit as 10 legislators are from his camp, sources said.With inputs from IANS