NEW DELHI: BJP on Sunday decided to field Naveen Jindal, who heads steel and power giant JSPL, from Kurukshetra, hours after he switched over to the saffron party. Jindal — an accused in the coal scam, which was a key election issue for BJP in 2014 — was twice elected to Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra. In 2014, he had finished third when BJP’s Raj Kumar Saini won, and was not fielded by Congress in the 2019 polls.
The youngest son of OP Jindal, Naveen serves as chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and also leads lobby group Indian Steel Association. A keen polo player, Jindal is credited with ensuring that restrictions on flying the Tricolour were eased. OP Jindal, was power minister in the Haryana govt, while Savitri Jindal (Naveen’s mother) also served as a minister in the state till 2014.
Although there was a buzz of his joining BJP, the move was a setback to Congress as he was seen to be close to Rahul Gandhi, the former party president.
“I represented Congress Party in Parliament as MP from Kurukshetra for 10 years. I thank the Congress leadership and the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Today I am resigning from the primary membership of the Congress Party,” said Jindal on social media before making the switch. The businessman said he wants to contribute to PM Narendra Modi's Viksit Bharat dream.
Jindal joined the BJP in the presence of its general secretary Vinod Tawde, who said Jindal's presence in the party will help the government's agenda of boosting the country's economy and prosperity.
Apart from being an accused in three ‘Coalgate’ cases, his company JSPL was also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate for foreign exchange related violations. In 2015, govt had also cancelled two coal blocks allocated to JSPL during an auction suspecting bid rigging.
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