Former Punjab MLA Arvind Khanna, others join BJP

Former Sangrur MLA and businessman Arvind Khanna, former PWD minister Kanwar Singh Tohda, Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary Gurdeep Singh Gosha and former counsellor Dharamveer Sareen were some of the prominent faces who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi ahead of the Assembly polls in Punjab.

The leaders were brought into the party’s fold in the presence of the union minister and party Punjab in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and union minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

“Their presence will boost the BJP’s performance in Punjab, and in this coming election, BJP will open a new chapter in Punjab. Had it not been for the state machinery’s mischief, and the Punjab police, PM Modi’s rally in Ferozepur would have seen the biggest turnout in the state so far,” Shekhawat said.

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The BJP and Congress have been indulging in a war of words since PM Modi’s cavalcade was stuck atop a flyover for 20 minutes. The BJP has alleged mischief by Congress and has said that this was a breach of national security.

Congress, on the other hand, has said that the BJP’s allegations are to divert attention from the poor attendance at Modi’s rally. Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said that “barely 700 people” turned up at the rally, and so the BJP was pointing fingers at the Punjab government over the PM’s security.

Also read: Alliance with Akali Dal in Punjab cost BJP heavily: Hardeep Singh Puri

Khanna, a Congress leader, was a general secretary of the Congress’s Punjab unit, and was a legislator from Dhuri in the past.

Tohda is the grandson of late Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief. Gosha is a businessman and president of the Youth Akali Dal. Sareen is a former chairman of the Market Committee.

Earlier, two Congress MLAs from Punjab, Fateh Singh Bajwa and Balwinder Singh Laddi and former cricketer Dinesh Mongia had joined the BJP.

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