AAP's only Lok Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Rinku and MLA Sheetal Angural in Punjab join BJP
In a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, the party's Member of Parliament from Jalandhar Sushil Kumar Rinku and Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday in the national capital Delhi ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024.
IN a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, the party's Member of Parliament from Jalandhar Sushil Kumar Rinku and Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday in the national capital Delhi ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024.
The Jalandhar MP accused the state AAP government of not supporting him in development works and also not fulfilling the promises made to the people of Jalandhar.
The MP said he joined the BJP for the development of Punjab, especially Jalandhar.
He said he was impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and lauded the Union government for its development initiatives.
“It is true that the promises I made to the people of Jalandhar were not fulfilled because my party (AAP) did not support me. I am impressed with the working style of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah..." Sushil Kumar Rinku said after joining the saffron party.
Welcoming the AAP lone MP in the state, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said, “Congress and AAP are two sides of the same coin. Sushil Rinku joined the party today...He is the only Lok Sabha MP of (AAP) and they (AAP) should be ashamed... "
Rinku, who was already announced as the AAP candidate from Jalandhar, was elected to the Lok Sabha by a margin of 58,691 votes in the 2023 by-poll. He had quit the Congress to join AAP last year to fight the by-poll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had only one MP, Rinku in the outgoing Lok Sabha. The party, in power in Delhi and Punjab, has ten Rajya Sabha MPs, however.
Earlier on Tuesday, three-term Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the saffron party and asserted that people have made up their minds to elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power again.
Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, a hero of the anti-terrorism campaign in the state who was assassinated in a terror attack while still in office.
