Shimla, July 3 -- The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Thursday launched a statewide membership and induction campaign ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, with former BJP leader and two-time BJP assembly candidate from Rampur, Brij Lal, joining the Congress along with around 300 supporters. Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president, Vinay Kumar said, "We have started this initiative from Rampur. Brij Lal was a senior BJP leader and had contested two Assembly elections on the BJP ticket. He told us that he felt the BJP had become a party dominated by a few leaders, and therefore decided to join the Congress. Today, around 300 workers from Rampur have joined the Congress along with him." "This campaign has been launched today and similar requests are coming from several Assembly constituencies. We will organise such programmes across Himachal Pradesh as part of a statewide initiative. This is the right time to strengthen the organisation ahead of the election year," Kumar said. After inducting Brij Lal into the party, Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh said, "Rampur is my home constituency and it is a matter of happiness that Brij Lal, who was a prominent BJP leader in the area, has joined the Congress along with hundreds of workers. Congress was making continuous efforts to strengthen the party across the state and would welcome leaders and workers from any political background who wished to join voluntarily". Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu welcomed Brij Lal and his supporters into the Congress party. BJP state spokesperson Sandeepni Bhardwaj stated that the denied the claims made by Congress leaders regarding thousands of BJP workers joining their party as "entirely false, a mere charade, and an attempt to mislead the public". He remarked that the recent incident in Rampur has completely exposed this entire "joining drama" orchestrated by the Congress. He asserted that dedicated BJP workers stand firmly by the party's ideology and will not be swayed by the Congress's false propaganda....