Major boost for BJP in Punjab as Jagmeet Brar, others join party

Former MP and senior leader from Punjab Jagmeet Singh Brar on Friday joined the BJP here in the presence of many leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

Besides the 67-year-old Jagmeet Brar, his brother Ripjit Singh Brar, ex-MLA, Onkar Singh Sidhu, former OSD to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Charanjit Singh Brar, former OSD to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, joined the BJP.

Jagmeet Brar had quit the Congress in 2015, snapping his over three-decade-long association with the party.

The former Congress MP joined the Shiromani Akali Dal in 2019. Before that, in 2016, he launched a front called Lok Hit Abhiyaan, which he dissolved later that year and joined the Trinamool Congress. He went on to serve as the president of the party’s State unit before quitting in 2018.

In December 2022, as a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, he announced his resignation from all party posts. Saini, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, Punjab BJP Working president Ashwani Sharma and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu welcomed the leaders who joined the BJP.

Speaking on the occasion, Saini said people of Punjab have made up their mind to vote out the AAP dispensation in next year’s assembly polls. “All sections are fed up with this Government. The BJP is going to form the next Government in Punjab. People have made up their mind,” Saini said.

Hitting out at the Bhagwant Mann Government, Saini said, “There is fear among common people, among traders and other sections. When people go out of their homes, their families are worried for their safety. An atmosphere of fear prevails in the State”.

Saini said if anyone can take the State forward, it is the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Referring to Haryana, he talked about several welfare initiatives taken by the BJP Government for various sections, including farmers, and said his party fulfils the promises it makes, unlike the AAP and the Congress.

People of Punjab saw what happened under the Congress rule and that they failed to fulfil the promises. People gave a chance to the AAP, but little did they know that it will also walk the same path as the Congress, he said.

Jakhar also hit out at the AAP Government, saying no one is feeling safe in Punjab.

“People are looking at the BJP with great hope; people want strong leadership,” Jakhar said.