New Delhi: Ex Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh who had quit the grand old party after being removed as the CM merged his newly launched party Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) with BJP on Monday. Capt Amarinder Singh joined BJP in the presence of Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Kiren Rijiju, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar and BJP Punjab chief Ashwani Sharma.
The development came days after Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
Former deputy chief speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti also joined the BJP. Bhatti was an MLA twice – once from Bhucho and the second time from Malout constituencies. Seven former MLAs and one former MP will also join the BJP along with Amarinder Singh.
The two-time former chief minister is the scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family. He
Amarinder made the announcement of joining the BJP after he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 12 in Delhi.
“Had a very productive meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah Ji. Discussed various issues pertaining to National security, the rising cases of narco-terrorism in Punjab and the future roadmap for the overall holistic development of Punjab,” Singh had tweeted.
In September 2021, Singh had unceremoniously resigned from the Congress ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections and floated his PLC and then made an alliance with the BJP that already had made SAD (Sanyukt) its ally.