In an apparent setback to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, two of its sitting MLAs joined the Congress on Tuesday, even as Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said “turncoats” would be politically doomed forever.
Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike, MLA from Nihal Singh Wala constituency, and Mahesh Inder Singh, MLA from Bagha Purana, along with other SAD leader Pritam S. Kotbhai and social activist from Phillaur, Ajay Sharma, joined the Congress in New Delhi.
Expressing their disillusionment with the Akali leadership, the sitting MLAs said they had always been loyal to the party but could not allow themselves to be “slaves to the Badals”. “Not only were we deprived of tickets to contest the forthcoming polls but were also threatened,” they said.
‘Congress strengthened’
Punjab Congress president Capt. Amarinder Singh said the Congress had been strengthened by their entry. “Exodus of leaders and workers from the SAD and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will further increase as the elections draw closer,” he said.
Capt. Singh told reporters that former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu could soon make an announcement on his nature of role in the Punjab Congress.
