New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) lone MP in the Lok Sabha, Sushil Kumar Rinku and MLA from Jalandhar West Sheetal Angural on Wednesday joined the BJP.
The development comes even as the AAP is staring at a crisis with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in jail, and the BJP is looking to increase its tally in the state.
Rinku, who joined the party in the presence of general secretary Vinod Tawde and state president Sunil Jakhar, accused the state AAP government of not supporting him in carrying out welfare projects in his constituency. He said the BJP will work for the development of Punjab.
Welcoming him, Jakhar said that Congress and AAP are two sides of the same coin.
“The AAP is staring at a leadership vacuum and the Congress’s leadership in the state will lead it to oblivion in Punjab. Sushil Rinku joined the party today; he is the only Lok Sabha MP of AAP and they should be ashamed,” Jakhar said.
Rinku, who was in the Congress previously, had joined the AAP to contest from the Jalandhar seat in a bypoll, after the sitting MP, Santokh Singh Chaudhary died of heart attack while taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab in January 2023. Rinku clinched the seat in May with a margin of 58,691 votes. His name was, however, announced by the AAP as the candidate from the seat again this year.
The BJP has been looking at increasing its tally in states where it has very few seats, and in Punjab, where it has won only 2 seats in 2019, is one of them.
The party, which could not seal an alliance with one of its oldest allies – the Shiromani Akali Dal – has been trying to bring in faces from other parties. On Wednesday, Congress MP from Ludhiana and Rahul Gandhi aide, Ravneet Bittu, joined the BJP.
Published 27 March 2024, 16:02 IST