'Time to go to a party which is...': What Amarinder Singh said after joining BJP

Addressing a press conference from the BJP's headquarters in New Delhi, Singh said it was time for him to go to a party, which is looking after the interests of the country.

Published on: Sep 19, 2022, 19:23:41 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who had resigned from the Congress following a bitter power tussle with Navjot Singh Sidhu last year, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. He has also merged his newly formed party Lok Punjab Congress with the BJP.

Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh being welcomed by Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Narendra Singh Tomar as he joins Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi. (PTI)

Addressing a press conference from the BJP's headquarters in New Delhi, Singh said it was time for him to go to a party, which is looking after the interests of the country. He said he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda.

He also raised his concerns about incidents of drones being spotted in Punjab's territory.

"Punjab is a border state, and I have seen our relations with Pakistan deteriorating...Drones are coming into our territory now to create complete chaos in Punjab. China is also not far from us. It's our duty to protect our state and the country," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

Singh had made the announcement of joining the BJP after he met with Shah a few days ago in the national capital. The former Punjab CM served the Congress for long years and resigned as Chief Minister in September last year ahead of assembly polls.

He later resigned from the Congress and launched the Punjab Lok Congress which tied up with the BJP and SAD (Sanyukt) for the assembly polls held early this year.

Singh's joining the BJP is a big shot in the arm for the party in the border state. The BJP now has a credible Sikh face in Punjab who has been active in state politics for several decades.

(With inputs from agencies)

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