Punjab elections: Two-time former SAD MLA Jagdeep Nakai joins BJP

A friend of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal since their school days, Nakai was elected from Joga in 2002 and Maur in 2007; he is tipped to be BJP’s Maur nominee this time

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) suffered a setback after its two-time former legislator Jagdeep Singh Nakai joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Shiromani Akali Dal former MLA Jagdeep Singh Nakai (second from right) after joining the BJP in New Delhi on Wednesday. He was inducted into the party fold by Union minister and BJP Punjab affairs in-charge Gajendra Shekhawat (centre). (HT Photo)

A friend of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal since school days, Nakai was elected for two consecutive terms from Joga in Mansa district in 2002 and Maur in Bathinda in 2007.

Nakai was inducted in the party fold by Union minister and BJP in-charge of Punjab Gajendra Shekhawat. He is tipped to be the BJP candidate from Maur.

In the 2012 elections, Nakai had announced a break from active politics, making way for senior SAD leader Janmeja Singh Sekhon from Maur.

In 2017, Nakai was fielded by the SAD from Mansa but he finished third.

After winning for the second term in 2007, he was appointed chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) by the Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government.

Nakai courted controversy when he was arrested by the Punjab vigilance bureau in July 2003 in a disproportionate assets case besides forgery and criminal conspiracy.

His father Balvinder Singh was the chairperson of fertiliser major IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited).