Punjab: AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku Joins BJP along with MLA Sheetal Angural

Days before the Lok Sabha elections, AAP received a setback in Punjab with Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joining the BJP on Wednesday. Rinku is now likely to contest the parliamentary election on a BJP ticket. Along with him, Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural has also shifted his loyalty from AAP to the saffron party.

AAP's Punjab MP Sushil Kumar Rinku likely to join BJP

Published : Mar 27, 2024, 3:41 PM IST

Updated : Mar 27, 2024, 6:28 PM IST

New Delhi:Aam Aadmi Party Lok Sabha member Sushil Kumar Rinku joined the BJP on Wednesday. Rinku became the Lok Sabha MP from Jalandhar in Punjab last year after winning a bypoll there with a huge margin. A former Congress MLA, Rinku had switched to the AAP on April 27, 2023, and a day later, was declared the AAP candidate from the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

Rinku is now likely to contest the Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket after joining the party, the sources said. He is the only AAP MP from Punjab. and he has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi. Apart from this, Sheetal Angural BJP MLA from Jalandhar West has also joined the BJP. Both of them have bid farewell to the Aam Aadmi Party in the presence of the senior leadership of the BJP and fought for the BJP.

Earlier, Sushil Kumar Rinku and MLA Sheetal Angural denied speculations over their joining the BJP but they have proved rumours correct. Sheetal Angural has returned to BJP after 2 years. Angural started his politics from BJP. He was a very active BJP leader in Jalandhar. Two years ago, during the Punjab assembly elections, he met Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and joined the Aam Aadmi Party.

After this, he contested from the Jalandhar West Vidhan Sabha seat on the AAP ticket and became an MLA by defeating Sushil Rinku of the Congress. Now after two years he has returned to BJP.

Sushil Kumar Rinku, clarifying on his joining the BJP, said, "It is true that the promises I made to the people of Jalandhar were not fulfilled because my party (AAP) did not support me. I am impressed with the working style of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah..."

On the new joinings, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says, "...BJP is the largest political party in the world. People from different walks of life are joining our family... I welcome Sushil Kumar Rinku and Sheetal Angural to the party... The situation is changing in Punjab and we all will work together to make India developed by 2047..."