Former Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh, who left Congress last year, is most likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After his return from spinal surgery in London the following week, Singh would probably merge his Punjab Lok Congress party with the BJP. In September 2021, the politician left the Congress amid a power struggle with Navjot Singh Sidhu and launched his own party, the Punjab Lok Congress.
Singh backed the BJP during the state Assembly elections this year, despite denials to the contrary. However, the politician was defeated by Ajit Pal Singh Kohli of the Aam Aadmi Party in his home district of Patiala. A number of Congressmen, including Raj K. Verka, Gurpreet S. Kangar, Balbir Sidhu, Kewal S. Dhillon, Sunder Sham Arora, and Kamaljeet S. Dhillon, switched to the BJP earlier this year.
Several Congressmen who were close to Capt. Amarinder Singh after his departure from the party last year subsequently resigned and joined the BJP. Sunil Jakhar, a former state minister and president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress (PPCC), recently joined the BJP together with four other officials, including Raj Kumar Verka, and Sundar Sham Arora, the PPCC's working president, Balbir Singh Sidhu, and Gurpreet Singh Kangar.
Amrinder had quit Congress in 1980s also
In his political career, Amarinder Singh has frequently changed sides, joining the Congress before joining the Akali Dal and later founding his own party. Singh, a former commissioned officer in the Indian army, began his political career in 1968 and, running on the Congress platform, won the general election from the Patiala Parliamentary constituency in 1980. But due to Action Blue Star, a military operation carried out by Indian security forces in the Golden Temple, he left the Congress party.
