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Ex-Akali MLA Pawan Tinu joins AAP, likely to be fielded from Jalandhar
Two-time MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu said he decided to join AAP unconditionally only after looking at its performance in the past two years in Punjab
In a setback to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), its former chief parliamentary secretary and two-time MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu, a key Dalit face, joined Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday.
Tinu is likely to be announced as the AAP candidate from the Dalit-dominant Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat. Former SAD district president (Jalandhar) Gurcharan Singh Channi, who also remained president of the district planning board, joined AAP along with Tinu. The AAP is going to announce its candidate from Jalandhar and Ludhiana parliamentary seats on April 16.
Tinu is the second turncoat to join AAP after Dr Raj Kumar, a two-time Congress MLA from Chabbewal assembly constituency. Dr Kumar is an AAP candidate from the Hoshiarpur (reserved) parliamentary constituency.
Earlier also, during Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypolls, the AAP had inducted Sushil Rinku from Congress and made him the party candidate. In fact, on March 14, AAP had named Rinku as its candidate from Jalandhar. However, Rinku quit the party on March 27 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has also fielded him from the same constituency.
Since then, AAP has been looking for a suitable candidate as Rinku’s replacement.
Over the past few weeks, Tinu had dropped numerous hints after Rinku’s exit that he was cosying up to AAP.
Tinu said he decided to join AAP unconditionally only after looking at its performance in the past two years in Punjab.
“From health sector to education, the AAP government has achieved what other governments couldn’t do in their 10 or 5-year tenures. Moreover, the AAP is fighting a political war against BJP for saving democracy and constitution after the arrest of party leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal,” he said.
A setback for SAD
Tinu’s exit has come as a major setback for beleaguered SAD as he was one of the top contenders along with Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi to contest Lok Sabha polls from Jalandhar.
Tinu added that the future of Akali Dal is uncertain because the party is presently going through a leadership crisis.
“Due to poor leadership skills at the top and lack of concrete decision-making has resulted in the downfall of the Akali Dal over the years. There is an atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity in the Akali leadership from top to bottom. There is insecurity among the workers. When there is uncertainty and distrust among the people of any party, they cannot win. Now, the people of Punjab do not have faith in the Akali Dal,” he added.
As per sources close to Tinu, he was miffed with SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, ever since he was denied a ticket for the Jalandhar LS bypoll last year.
One of the senior AAP leaders revealed that after Rinku’s exit, the party had first contacted cabinet minister Balkar Singh but after he was reluctant to contest, the party started approaching other leaders.
“Two other Dalit leaders were also contacted but due to their lack of mass base in Jalandhar constituency, their names were dropped. Later, the talks were initiated with Tinu, which eventually materialised,” an AAP leader said, pleading anonymity.
