Punjab state scheduled caste commission chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi resigned on Thursday after being appointed the Aam Aadmi Party’s halqa in-charge for the Chamkaur Sahib (reserved) assembly constituency in Rupnagar district.
The development is being seen as a setback for sitting AAP MLA Dr Charanjit Singh, an eye surgeon, who had made political waves in the 2022 assembly elections by defeating then chief minister and sitting MLA Charanjit Singh Channi, who had represented the constituency for three consecutive terms. Channi is currently the Congress MP from Jalandhar.
Garhi, a former state president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), had contested the 2022 assembly elections from Phagwara as a candidate of the SAD-BSP alliance and finished third. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he contested the Anandpur Sahib seat on a BSP ticket and polled around 90,000 votes.
He was subsequently expelled from the BSP on charges of indiscipline. On January 1, 2025, Garhi joined the AAP in the presence of chief minister Bhagwant Mann and was appointed chairman of the state SC commission in March this year.