Chandigarh:The Aam Aadmi Party registered a landslide victory in Punjab and formed the government with Bhagwant Mann as the new chief minister heading a 10-minister cabinet. One of the 10 is Ajnala MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who happens to have an interesting background.
Before signing up to be an AAP minister, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was an ardent supporter of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) right from his days in college. He had also opposed terrorism as a supporter of the CPI (ML), which is why he was on the hit list of terrorists. He joined the Congress in 1990, but went on a sabbatical for a few years after that. On his return, he rejoined the Congress, eventually joining hands with the Aam Aadmi Party.
Dhaliwal, who was sworn in as a minister on Saturday in Punjab, contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time on behalf of AAP in 2019, but lost. Prior to joining the Aam Aadmi Party, Kuldeep also served as a member of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). Additionally, he was also the Chairman of the Service Selection Board under Punjab State. AAP had fielded him in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, but he lost to Congress MP Gurjeet Aujla.
After the 2019 elections, a murder case was registered against Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal. He has reportedly approached the High Court in the matter, while the case still remains pending. Sources also confirm that the police have not produced the challan in the case yet. Following the case, Dhaliwal had also taken an oath to free Ajnala from fear of criminals. Even during the election campaign, he gave the slogan of fearless Ajnala and assured the people that if he came to power, harassment and crimes in Ajnala would reduce considerably.
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