The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has dealt a major blow to the Congress in the Malwa region. After Gurmeet Singh Khudian, a close associate of Captain Amarinder Singh; Jagroop Singh Gill, an ally of Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and former chairman of Bathinda Improvement Trust, joined the Aam Aadmi Party along with hundreds of his associates. The former Congress leader was formally welcomed by AAP’s senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema, Punjab affairs incharge Jarnail Singh along with MLAs Meet Hayer, Prof Baljinder Kaur, Rupinder Kaur Ruby and party’s state general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat, at the party headquarters here on Monday.Welcoming Jagroop Singh Gill and hundreds of his supporters, Harpal Singh Cheema said all those who want prosperity of Punjab are welcomed in the AAP. He said the joining of Khudian and Gill in the AAP had broke the back of the Congress party in Bathinda along with the entire Malwa region. Jagroop Singh Gill has been the president of the District Bar Association as well as the president of the Municipal Council. Apart from this, Jagroop Singh Gill has been a councilor since 1979 and is now a councilor for the seventh time.
On the occasion, Jarnail Singh said the people of Punjab were looking at the Aam Aadmi Party as the bright future of the state and that is why the convoy of the Aam Aadmi Party is growing every day.Jagroop Singh Gill, who joined the AAP said, “Punjab is taking the curve of change. We will support the Aam Aadmi Party in Malwa and in the entire Punjab, as the state awaits the AAP government.” He further said that instead of playing politics, he would work to strengthen the party so that corruption would be eradicated from Punjab and closed factories would be reopened.It may be recalled that last week, the Congress suffered a major setback in the Malwa region when Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's covering candidate for Lambi constituency in 2017 Assembly elections and former Lok Sabha member Jagdev Singh Khudian’s son, Gurmeet Singh Khudian joined the AAP. On the occasion, Neel Garg, Rakesh Puri, advocate Navdeep Jidda, Amardeep Singh Rajan, Amrit Lal Agarwal, ML Jindal, advocate Gurpreet Rimple, Baljit Singh Bali, Gobinder Singh, Sandeep Gupta, Mahinder Singh Phulomithi among others were also present.
Jolt to BJP in Majha
In a jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Majha, BJP district vice president Harwinder Singh Malli from Gurdaspur and district general secretary Harbans Singh, besides vice president of Panchayati Raj, Mangal Singh Sahur (Dera Baba Nanak) joined the AAP. Harwinder Singh Malli has held a number of important posts, including Mission Modi's block president and Dera Baba Nanak constituency in-charge. In the presence of district general secretary Subedar Kulwant Singh (Dina Nagar), Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, Punjab Affairs incharge and state general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat welcomed the leaders who left the BJP and joined the AAP.