In another major setback to the Congress party in Punjab, seven of its senior leaders including four former ministers, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chandigarh on Saturday. Two Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders also joined the saffron party.
Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, and Sundar Sham Arora are the four former ministers who switched sides to the BJP. Besides them, party leaders Kewal S. Dhillon, Kamaljeet S. Dhillon and Amarjeet S. Sidhu also joined the BJP. Amarjeet is the Mayor of Mohali.
The SAD leaders who were inducted into the BJP are Bibi Mohinder Kaur Josh and Sarup Chand Singl.
Balbir Sidhu, a three-time MLA from Mohali, was the health minister in the previous Congress government, while Gurpreet Kangar, a three-time MLA from Rampura Phul, was the revenue minister. Verka, a prominent Dalit leader from the Majha region, is also a three-time legislator and was the minister for social justice and and empowerment and minorities in the previous government. Sunder Sham Arora, a former MLA from Hoshiarpur, was the industry and commerce minister in the previous Congress government.
They joined the BJP in the presence of Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Som Parkash, state unit chief Ashwani Sharma, and senior party leaders Dushyant Gautam, Tarun Chugh, Sunil Jakhar and Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
An unfazed Congress took a sarcastic jibe at the leaders who quit the party. "Best of luck for Joining BJP. Grateful that the 'elite' who enjoyed all the privileges in the party have vacated the space for younger leadership from the common background," party leader and MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Chandigarh on Saturday for a meeting with party leaders and inaugurating the Khelo India Youth Games in Haryana's Panchkula.
