In yet another setback to the Congress in Punjab, four of its leaders and former ministers Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sunder Sham Arora and Gurpreet Singh Kangar joined the BJP here on Saturday.
Former Congress MLA from Barnala Kewal Dhillon and former SAD MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh too joined the BJP.
They joined the BJP in the presence of Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Som Parkash, State BJP chief Ashwani Sharma, and party leaders Dushyant Gautam, Tarun Chugh, Sunil Jakhar and Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
Balbir Sidhu, a three-time MLA from Mohali, was the Health Minister, while Gurpreet Kangar, a three-time MLA from Rampura Phul, was the Revenue Minister in the Congress Government. Verka, a prominent Dalit leader from the Majha region, is also a three-time legislator and was the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. Sunder Sham Arora, a former MLA from Hoshiarpur, was the Industry and Commerce Minister in the previous Congress Government.
Balbir Sidhu’s brother Amarjit Singh Sidhu, who is the mayor of Mohali corporation, too joined the BJP. Earlier in the day, Verka, Arora, Kangar and Sidhu were seen with the BJP leaders Sunil Jakhar and Manjinder Singh Sirsa in Chandigarh.
However, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring wished a sarcastic ‘good luck’ to the members who quit the party and said that he is “grateful” for the seats to be vacant for young leaders. “Best of luck for joining BJP. Grateful that the ‘elite’ who enjoyed all the privileges in the party have vacated the space for younger leadership from the common background,” he tweeted.