Congress got a shot in the arm in Punjab with Manpreet Badal, the estranged nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, joining the party after merging his outfit, People's Party of Punjab, (PPP) with the grand old party. The announcement was made at a Press conference in New Delhi.
Manpreet, who was the State Finance Minister in 2010, quit the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal after differences cropped up between him and his uncle Parkash Singh Badal and cousin Sukhbir Singh Badal.
He said he had quit as Finance Minister in the SAD Government because he did not agree with the policies of the Akali Government. He said that neither him nor any PPP worker would accept any party position until they won the hearts of every Congress worker.
Manpreet said that PPP had tried to awaken the people of Punjab in the last few years and worked under an alliance with Congress for the past two-and-a-half years or so.
Manpreet’s entry into Congress and PPP’s merger with the party comes after hectic parleys between him and Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh and other senior leaders.
The merger was sealed today during a meeting between Manpreet and Rahul at the latter's residence here where Amarinder and AICC General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad were also present.
The move can be seen as being part of Congress's endeavour to unite all secular and like-minded forces to defeat the ruling SAD-BJP combine, which has got the better of the party twice in a row in Punjab.
Manpreet had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 General Elections from Bathinda on a Congress ticket against his sister-in-law and Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal.