Setback for AAP: Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku, MLA Sheetal Angural join BJP

In a setback to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, its Member of Parliament from Jalandhar, Sushil Kumar Rinku and Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural joined the BJP on Wednesday.

Welcoming the two legislators to the BJP, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the BJP is the largest political party in the world and people from different walks of life are joining it.

“BJP is the largest political party in the world. People from different walks of life are joining our family. I welcome Sushil Kumar Rinku and Sheetal Angural to the party. The situation is changing in Punjab and we all will work together to make India developed by 2047, “Puri told reporters.

Rinku said that he had taken this decision for the development of Jalandhar.

“I have taken this decision for the development of Jalandhar. We will take Jalandhar forward. We will bring all the projects of the Central Government to Jalandhar,” he said.

Rinku also alleged that no development work has been done in Punjab by the AAP government.

“No development work has been done in Punjab by the AAP government. On the other hand, I am impressed by the developmental work initiated by PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also helped me a lot in the developmental work I have done in the Jalandhar constituency,” Rinku said.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said, “Congress and AAP are two sides of the same coin. Sushil Rinku joined the party today. He is the only Lok Sabha MP of the AAP and they should be ashamed.”
Sheetal Angural put out a statement saying that he has resigned from all the responsibilities he had in the AAP.

Rinku is joining the BJP despite being announced as the AAP candidate from Jalandhar. He won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of 58,691 votes in a by-poll in 2023.

On Tuesday, the Congress MP from Ludhiana, Ravneet Bittu, joined the BJP. Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in 1995 in Chandigarh in a suicide bombing.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Bittu defeated Simarjeet Singh Bains from the Lok Insaaf Party by 76,372 votes. In 2014, he defeated the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Harvinder Singh Phoolka with a margin of 19,709 votes.

The BJP earlier this week announced its decision to contest the election in Punjab on its own after it severed ties with its long-time ally, Shiromani Akali Dal.