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

Welcoming both Rinku and Angural to the saffron party, 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.

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“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 mediapersons.

The 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will go to the polls on June 1.

Rinku joined 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.

Both Rinku and Angural were welcomed into the party fold at the BJP headquarters here by BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar.

Talking to mediapersons after joining the saffron party, Rinku said, “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.”

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.

In the bypoll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency held in May last year, Rinku, a former Congress leader, defeated Congress’ Karamjit Kaur by a thumping margin of 58,691 votes, as the grand old party faced defeat in the seat for the first time since 1999.

Rinku had switched to the AAP from the Congress on April 27, 2023, and a day later he was declared the party candidate for the bypoll to the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

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.

After “talks” with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) remained inconclusive, the BJP on Tuesday announced its decision to go alone in all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab slated on June 1.

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said the BJP had decided to contest elections in the state alone.

“We took this call after wide consultations with the people, party leaders and workers. The decision is aimed at a bright future of Punjab’s youth, farmers, traders, and backward classes. The works done for Punjab under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership are evident,” he said.

“In the last 10 years, every grain of produce by Punjab farmers has been procured and fair MSP (minimum support price) sent to the bank accounts of farmers within a week,” said Jakhar, adding “the decision has been taken in the interest of a safe and secure border state of Punjab and I am sure people will support the BJP in the June 1 election.”