E-Paper
Former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh to join BJP next week
Will be merging the Punjab Lok Congress, the party he floated after quitting Congress last year, at an event in the national capital
Former two-time chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will be joining the Bharatiya Janata Party next week by merging his party, the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), with the saffron party.
Also read: AAP theatrics on ‘Op Lotus’ bid to sideline Mann: Bajwa
Sources close to the former chief minister said that the merger will take place on September 19, while a senior aide of the Captain said the date was not confirmed yet. However, he said it was certain that Capt Amarinder Singh was joining the BJP.
Leaves for New Delhi on Sunday
The 80-year-old Captain, who is learnt to be leaving for New Delhi on September 18, had recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah amid reports that he is likely to get a key role in the BJP after joining it.
Capt Amarinder Singh had floated the PLC after parting ways with the Congress following his unceremonious exit as chief minister by the party high command last September. Charanjit Singh Channi replaced him as chief minister till the February 2022 elections. Both Capt Amarinder and Channi lost the elections that the Aam Aadmi Party swept.
PLC got fewer than NOTA votes
The PLC contested the elections in alliance with the BJP but failed to make any headway.
The party got fewer votes than NOTA ones in Punjab. While 1,10,308 NOTA votes were polled, the PLC managed only 84,697 votes on its symbol. Five candidates of the PLC contested on the BJP symbol.
Ex-Congress MLAs joining BJP, too
Six Congress leaders, including a few former MLAs, are set to join the BJP along with the former chief minister.
Capt Amarinder Singh had remained chief minister of Punjab for two terms from 2002-07 and 2017-21. He quit as the Congress chief minister in September 2021, barely four months before completing his second tenure.
