Three Rebel AAP MLAs Join BJP Ahead of Punjab Assembly Elections
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has suffered a major political setback ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, with three rebel legislators formally joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Monday, days after quitting or being suspended from the party.
The three legislators are Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, MLA from Sanour constituency in Patiala district; Chetan Singh Jouramajra, MLA from Samana and a former minister; and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a suspended AAP legislator and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
Pathanmajra and Jouramajra resigned from the AAP on November 1, while Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh also joined the BJP on Monday, dealing another blow to the ruling party ahead of the crucial elections.
After joining the BJP, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh launched a scathing attack on the AAP leadership, claiming that the party had lost its political relevance in Punjab.
“The Aam Aadmi Party’s story in Punjab is over. Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann have themselves brought it to an end. A double-engine government will be formed in Punjab as well,” he said.
Referring to the state’s law and order situation, he recalled his tenure as Superintendent of Police in Amritsar, claiming that drug-related problems and crime had been completely eliminated in 2007, 2008 and 2009. However, he alleged that the situation had never come under control after his departure.
Meanwhile, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra also criticised the AAP government after joining the BJP. He said the AAP had initially presented an impressive vision when it entered Punjab politics, and those ideas had helped the party form a government despite the state’s complex political landscape.
However, he alleged that those who raised their voices for Punjab’s problems were gradually sidelined.
“Today, Punjab is largely referred to as ‘Udta Punjab’, but we all want to make it ‘Rising Punjab’,” he said.
Accusing the AAP government of pushing the state into a financial crisis, Pathanmajra alleged that the party had borrowed more money than any previous government, leaving Punjab in a precarious condition.
The defections are likely to intensify political activity in Punjab as parties gear up for the upcoming Assembly elections.
