New Delhi: Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will join the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday. According to Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal, Amarinder Singh is also likely to merge his party PLC with the BJP in the national capital on September 19. The development comes days after Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
‘Had a very productive meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah Ji. Discussed various issues pertaining to National security, the rising cases of narco-terrorism in Punjab and the future roadmap for the overall holistic development of Punjab’, Singh had tweeted.
Amarinder Singh who broke ties with Congress ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections had fought the polls in alliance with BJP. Singh (80) will join the BJP in the presence of party president JP Nadda and other leaders in Delhi. Seven former MLAs and one former MP, who joined the PLC, will be among those to follow Singh on Monday, PLC spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal said. Other office bearers and district presidents of the PLC will join the BJP in a separate event in Chandigarh next week, Baliawal added.
Singh, who recently returned from London following a spinal surgery, has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the past fortnight. After his meeting with Shah on September 12, Singh said he held a very productive discussion on various issues related to national security, rising cases of narco-terrorism in Punjab and the future roadmap for the state’s overall holistic development. Singh had conveyed his intention to merge his party with the BJP before departing for London, senior Punjab BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal had said in July. The former chief minister would announce the merger upon his return, Grewal had said at the time.
The two-time former chief minister is the scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family. He quit the Congress after being replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi last year. However, the Congress was routed in the Assembly polls in February with Channi losing both the seats he contested. The PLC contested the elections in alliance with the BJP and the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyuk). However, none of its candidates could register a win, with Singh himself losing from his home turf of Patiala Urban.
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