Jolt to AAP as its lone Lok Sabha MP joins BJP

The lone Lok Sabha member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Sushil Kumar Rinku, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday along with Punjab MLA Sheetal Angural, dealing a blow to the party that is already facing a crisis following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Rinku, the MP from Jalandhar, said he decided to join the BJP for the development of Punjab, especially Jalandhar, and accused the AAP government in the state of not helping him in development endeavours in his constituency.

Thus, he could not honour the promises he had made to the voters, Rinku added.

He said he was impressed by the working style of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and lauded the BJP-led Centre for its development initiatives, including the boost in flight services and launch of new trains to Jalandhar.

"I have no greed for power. I am doing a new experiment for the betterment of Jalandhar," Rinku told reporters at his joining ceremony in New Delhi.

He and Angural, who was elected to the Punjab Assembly from Jalandhar West, joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the party's national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar.

Rinku quit the Congress to join the AAP last year to contest the bypoll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat.

He was a vocal critic of the BJP in the Lower House of Parliament. Rinku was even suspended from the Lok Sabha for his unruly protests.

The BJP is likely to field him in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as it inducts a number of influential leaders from different political parties in Punjab to emerge as a strong force in the state that has 13 parliamentary constituencies.

Puri and Tawde said the joining of the AAP leaders will boost the BJP following its decision to go it alone in Punjab, which is set to a witness a four-cornered poll contest, with the AAP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal being the three other main forces.

Jakhar slammed the AAP, alleging that the excise scam in Punjab is many times bigger that the one in Delhi in which Kejriwal has been arrested. The AAP has failed to fulfil its promises made to people, the BJP leader said.

He said Rinku resigned from the Lok Sabha and AAP before joining the BJP. While Angural has quit the AAP, he will tender his resignation from the Assembly, Jakhar added.

Three-term Congress MP from Punjab Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the BJP on Tuesday and asserted that people have made up their mind to elect Modi to power again.

Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, a hero of the anti-terrorism campaign in the state who was assassinated in a terror attack while still in office.