In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) months ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, three suspended MLAs, along with several other leaders, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Chetan Singh Jouramajra, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh had resigned from the AAP's primary membership on Sunday, following their suspension. Jouramajra represents Samana and Pathanmajra represents Sanour, while Singh is the MLA from the Amritsar North seat.
Earlier, in a video shared by news agency ANI on X, Jouramajra and Pathanmajra were seen raising slogans of 'BJP Zindabad' outside the saffron party's headquarters in New Delhi. They, along with Singh, formally joined the party shortly afterwards.
The legislators announced their resignations a day after the AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in early 2027. The party has not yet finalised candidates for either Samana or Sanour.
While announcing their resignations on Sunday, Jouramajra and Pathanmajra—both first-time legislators—lashed out at the AAP government over several issues, including the drug menace, the state's mounting debt and its failure to amend the anti-sacrilege law despite directions from the Akal Takht.
Speaking to the media in Chandigarh, Jouramajra criticised the state government over the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa and the suicide of Dalit resident Gulzar Singh from Turbanjara village in Sangrur.
Pathanmajra, meanwhile, criticised the state government over Punjab's mounting debt and alleged that AAP leaders from Delhi were calling the shots in the Bhagwant Mann-led government.
Jouramajra served as a minister from January 8, 2023, to September 23, 2024, but was later dropped from the Cabinet.
Pathanmajra is facing a rape case after a woman from Zirakpur alleged that he had misrepresented himself as a divorcee, entered into a relationship with her and subsequently married her in 2021 despite already being married. The MLA is currently on bail.
Singh, former IPS officer, announced his resignation on Monday through a Facebook post, saying he had communicated his decision to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Sunday.
Singh was suspended from the party in June last year for five years for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities.
A vocal critic of the AAP government over many issues, Singh had earlier expressed his displeasure over the handling of the 2015 sacrilege and police-firing incident cases in Faridkot, seeking justice in the matter.
The MLAs' defection to the BJP is likely to further raise political heat ahead of the high-stakes elections. The AAP on Sunday alleged that the BJP was inducting leaders rejected by the AAP because it lacked a support base of its own and had no concern for Punjab's interests.
"What good can a person do for Punjab if he has allegedly fired at Punjab Police personnel and fled, and was sent to jail by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in connection with rape allegations? But such are the people the BJP wants to induct," Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora said in a post on X.
