Former cricketer Dinesh Mongia, two Congress MLAs join BJP

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Mongia on Tuesday joined BJP. Two Congress MLAs Balwinder Singh Laddi, Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa and 13 others also joined the BJP on Tuesday along with cricketer Mongia.

Mongia, Laddi, Bajwa and others joined BJP at the party national headquarters here in the presence of Union Minister and election in-charge of Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, national general secretary and state in-charge Dushyant Gautam and Rajya Sabha member and national media department head Anil Baluni.

Left hand batsman Mongia had represented India in 57 ODIs and one T20 international match. Laddi and Bajwa have won from Shri Hargobindpur and Qadian on Congress ticket in 2017 Punjab assembly polls respectively.

Others who joined BJP are former Lok Sabha member Rajdev Khalsa, senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD leader and three time MLA Gurte Singh Gudhiyana, President of United Christian Front of Punjab Kamal Bakshi, lawyer Madhumeet, jagdeep Singh Dhariwal, Praveen Deol, Jarnail Singh, Pradeep Singla, Gulsan Kumar, Vicky Mangla, Jagjeet Singh, Sukhvinder Singh and Buta Singh Dhaliwal.

Shekhawat said that joining these leaders will strengthen the party and ensure formation of a BJP led alliance government in Punjab. "Bajwa family is a big name in Punjab. His father was three times minister and four times MLA. His father fought against terrorism and sacrificed his life while fighting against terrorism," Shekhawat said.

The BJP has on Monday announced an alliance with former chief minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) to jointly contest the Punjab assembly polls.

Punjab election will be held in February -March next year along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

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