Udit Raj, a Member of Parliament from the North West Delhi constituency, on Wednesday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined the Congress. Udit Raj joined the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi.

Udit Raj, a sitting BJP MP, quit the party a day after he was denied ticket for the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. Voting in Delhi takes place on May 12.

In his first remarks after joining the Congress, Udit Raj said that he quit the BJP because he was denied a ticket. He also denied that he was ideologically in tune with the ruling party.

“Ideologically, I was not with them always, be it on the issue of Sabarimala, SC/ST Acts etc. The whole world knows that,” the Dalit leader said. “You cannot say ideologically I was with them,” he added.

Lauding the Congress, Udit Raj said it is a party of diversity. “This is the only party which has lifted Dalits. What Congress had done, has been undone by the BJP,” he stated.

Explaining why he took so long to realise he needed to quit the BJP, Udit Raj said, “Because I was in the BJP to represents Dalits in Parliament, to raise their issues. If that platform is not there anymore, why should I remain in the party.”

“I have said before the PM that the Supreme Court and High Court are anti-Dalits,” he added, in controversial remarks.

On Tuesday, Udit Raj had said that the BJP might have decided to deny him a ticket because he had raised his voice against the Supreme Court order that diluted the stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act.

Denying a ticket to Udit Raj, the BJP has nominated Punjabi Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans from the North West Lok Sabha constituency.

Today, after quitting the BJP, Udit Raj also removed the ‘Chowkidar’ prefix from his Twitter handle.