A day after the BJP sealed the alliance with former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, the saffron party inducted two more Congress MLAs – Fateh Jung Bajwa, and Balwinder Singh Laddi—into its fold. In another high profile induction, former cricketer Dinesh Mongia too joined the BJP.
This follows a series of inductions in the BJP after the repeal of the three farm laws. Earlier, leaders like Manjinder Singh Sirsa, former state DGP S.S. Virk, and former state cabinet minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi had joined the party.
After joining the BJP, Mongia said he will contest elections from wherever the party wishes. He lauded Modi's leadership, and the BJP's strength as national party as he listed his reasons for joining the party. Mongia had made his cricketing debut for India in 2001 and played till 2007.
The induction Bajwa and Laddi will help the party reach out to the Sikh electorate and rural areas of the border state. Their presence in the party would bolster the BJP's prospects for creating an impact on the outcome of polls in their respective constituencies. Bajwa represents Qadian constituency, and is the brother of Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who is also the chairman of the Congress manifesto committee.
Fateh is said to be miffed with his elder brother after the latter expressed his desire to contest from Qadian seat. Their father Satnam Singh Bajwa was a four-time MLA and a three-time minister. He was shot dead by terrorists in 1987.
Ironically, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had recently held a rally in support of Fateh, in which Sri Hargobindpur MLA Laddi was also present. Sidhu had batted for both these MLAs. The constituencies represented by these MLAs come in Gurdaspur district, the Lok Sabha constituency of BJP MP Sunny Deol.
Fateh was also considered close to Amarinder Singh. It appears that many Congress leaders close to the former Punjab chief minister—Fateh, Virk and Sodhi—are joining the saffron party.
The other key inclusions made when Bajwa and Mongia joined the BJP in presence of elections in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat included Gurtej Singh Gudhiyana, a three-time MLA from Akali Dal; former MP Rajdev Khalsa; Kamal Bakshi, senior christian leader; High Court lawyer Madhumeet; Jagdeep Singh Dhaliwal, a municipal corporation member.