Tajinder Singh Bittu, a close aide of Priyanka Gandhi, joined the BJP in Delhi on Saturday hours after resigning from the Congress. The development comes as another setback to the Congress, which has seen an exodus of high-profile leaders in recent weeks amid the Lok Sabha polls.

Bittu, who was the Congress secretary in-charge of Himachal Pradesh, joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and party general secretary Vinod Tawde.

Earlier in the day, in a letter addressed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Bittu resigned from the party.

"I hereby tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress and from my post AICC, secretary co-incharge of Himachal Pradesh, effective immediately," he said in the letter.

Bittu shared his resignation letter in a Facebook post with the caption, "With a heavy heart, after 35 years, I resign from the Congress party."

Source: India Today