Veteran leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday.
According to Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal, Amarinder Singh is also likely to merge his party Punjab Lok Congress with the BJP on September 19. He confirmed that the two-time Chief Minister of Punjab is going to join BJP on Monday.
Punjab Lok Congress had contested the Punjab Assembly elections held in February this year as an alliance partner of the BJP. Although the newly floated party failed to get any seat in the House of 117, the Punjab Lok Congress secured respectable votes in some constituencies of the state.
Sunil Jakhar- another stalwart of Punjab Congress, former Punjab Congress Committee (PCC), and a loyalist of Capt. Amarinder Singh, had already joined BJP on May 20, 2022.
Captain earlier met with Prime Minister, Home Minister
Before deciding to join BJP, former Punjab Chief Minister earlier met with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
On August 30, Captain Amarinder Singh met with Prime Minister.
"Had a warm meeting with Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji. Discussed various issues related to Punjab and resolved to work together for the safety and security of the state and the country, which has and will always remain of paramount concern to both of us", he tweeted after the meeting.
On September 12, Singh met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed the political situation in Punjab.
"Had a very productive meeting with Hon'ble Union Home Minister AmitShah Ji. Discussed various issues pertaining to National security, the rising cases of narco-terrorism in Punjab, and the future roadmap for the overall holistic development of Punjab", the former Punjab Chief Minister had tweeted after the meeting.
- Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as the chief minister of Punjab on September 18, 2021, following months of infighting between him and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.
- Earlier on July 18, 2021, Congress high-command appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as Punjab Congress chief ignoring the objections of Captain.
- On November 2, 2021, Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from Congress and floated a new party the "Punjab Lok Congress". Like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Captain wrote a hard-hitting letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
- "Despite my profound reservations and over the unanimous advice of almost all the MPs from Punjab, you chose to appoint an acolyte of the Pakistani deep state Navjyot Singh Sindhu who had publicly hugged the Pakistan Army Chief Gen Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran Khan, as the President of the Punjab Congress Committee", he wrote in his five-page letter.
