New Delhi: Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, the suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Amritsar North, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, hours after resigning from the Punjab Legislative Assembly. Two other rebel AAP leaders, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra, also joined the BJP.
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Soon after joining the BJP, Singh launched a scathing attack on his former party, declaring that AAP's political presence in Punjab had come to an end.
"In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party is finished—Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann have brought about its collapse themselves. For all practical purposes, AAP no longer exists," Singh told ANI. He also expressed confidence that a "double-engine government" would soon be formed in Punjab.
The development comes ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. AAP had won 92 of the state's 117 seats in the 2022 Assembly polls, while the Congress secured 18.
Singh, a former police officer, also criticised the situation in Punjab over crime and drug-related issues, which have emerged as key campaign concerns. Recalling his tenure as Superintendent of Police in Amritsar, he claimed that the drug menace and crime had been completely eradicated during 2007, 2008 and 2009.
"As for the crime rate, I served as an SP in Amritsar; back in 2007, 2008, and 2009, we completely eradicated both the drug menace and crime. However, after I left, the situation was never brought under control again," he said.
In his message announcing his resignation from the Assembly, Singh had told the people of Amritsar that his sole purpose was "Punjab First".
The defections come as AAP prepares for the next Assembly elections. On Saturday, the party announced its first list of 40 candidates, naming Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri, Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura and jailed minister Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West.
The list also includes ministers Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Balkar Singh from Kartarpur, Jai Krishan Singh Rouri from Garhshankar, Kulwant Singh from S A S Nagar and Labh Singh Ugoke from Bhadaur.
(With agency inputs from ANI and PTI)
