Efforts of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to make inroads in Jammu and Kashmir received a big boost today after three-time MLA and former education minister Harsh Dev Singh joined the party in Delhi.
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak admitted Harsh Dev Singh to the party during a media interaction. Harsh Dev Singh is the chairman of the Panthers Party.
Terming the joining of Harsh Dev Singh in the party as a turning point in the political history of J&K, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that he (Harsh Dev Singh) has vast political experience.
He recalled the three-year tenure of Harsh Dev Singh as Education Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K when 11000 new schools and 22-degree colleges were opened.
Singh claimed that AAP is emerging as a strong force in J&K where a large number of politicians have expressed their desire to join the party.
Earlier 100 prominent persons including former MLAs of the Panthers Party joined AAP.
Before joining Harsh Dev Singh, two former legislators of the party Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yash Paul Kundal have joined the party in New Delhi on April 10
Along with them, more than 100 local leaders, including village heads, and members of the block development council (BDC) and district development council (DDC), also joined the party in the presence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Environment Minister Gopal Rai.
Mankotia is a two-time MLA from Udhampur and resigned from the Panthers Party in February last year, citing a "family issue". Kundal, another Panthers Party leader, is also a two-time MLA and former minister.
DDC member Taranjit Singh Tony and former Congress leader Surinder Singh Shingari were among the prominent faces who joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Except for Bhim Singh, all ex-legislators of the Panthers quit the party
Except for Prof. Bhim Singh, all ex-legislators of the Panthers Party have quitted the party during the last couple of years.
The Panthers Party was founded on March 23, 1982, by Prof Bhim Singh and a few prominent youth political personalities.
Harsh Dev was thrice elected to the then legislative assembly from the Ramnagar constituency in 1996, 2002, and 2008.
On February 13, the Panthers Party had suffered a setback when its entire Samba district unit resigned from the primary membership of the party.
On February 10, 2021, the party had suffered a major jolt when former MLA from the Udhampur assembly constituency and party president Balwant Singh Mankotia resigned from the party and joined AAP on April 10.
The two-time MLA and former minister from Samba constituency, Yash Paul Kundal, has also joined AAP.
Fariq Nath, another Panthers Party MLA joined Congress before the 2014 assembly elections.
