Ex-Haryana minister Savitri Jindal quits Congress, joins BJP

Former Haryana minister Savitri Jindal has quit the Congress, days after her son and industrialist Naveen Jindal left the party to join the BJP.

The 84-year-old Savitri announced her decision to quit the Congress on a social media post late Wednesday night.

"I represented the people of Hisar for 10 years as an MLA and have served Haryana state selflessly as a minister. The people of Hisar are my family and on the advice of my family, I am resigning from the primary membership of the Congress today," she posted in Hindi.

Savitri Jindal has been listed as the richest woman in the country by Forbes India this year.

According to the Forbes list of the 10 richest women in India, Savitri Jindal, who is the wife of late industrialist and former minister O P Jindal, has a net worth of 29.1 billion USD (one billion = Rs 100 crore).

Savitri Jindal was a minister in the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana.

In 2014, she lost to BJP's Dr Kamal Gupta from Hisar. Gupta is currently a Minister in the Nayab Singh Saini government.

A few days ago, Savitri's son Naveen Jindal, a former MP, also quit the Congress and joined the BJP.