Amarinder brings Khaira, 2 other rebel AAP MLAS into Congress fold
The ruling Congress in Punjab got a shot in the arm when three rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAS, including former leader of opposition (LOP) Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Jagdev Singh Kamalu and Pirmal Singh Khalsa, joined the party on Thursday ahead of next year’s assembly polls in the state.
The MLAS were welcomed into the party fold by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh minutes before he left for Delhi in a helicopter for a one-on-one meeting with three-member committee constituted by the Congress to resolve infighting in the Punjab unit.
Amarinder’s wife, Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, was also present at the helipad where the three legislators met the chief minister and posed for photos which were posted on social media by the state Congress from its official handle promptly.
“Chief Minister @Capt Amarinder Singh before leaving for Delhi today welcomed Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA and former leader of opposition and his two AAP MLA colleagues named Jagdev Singh Kamalu, MLA Maur, and Pirmal Singh Dhaula, MLA Bhadaur, into the party fold (sic),” the Punjab Congress tweeted. The three MLAS resigned from the membership of the state assembly. “Their resignations have been received in the speaker’s office,” an official of the state assembly said.
The trio’s entry into the Congress, in a well-choreographed move timed with his meeting with the central team, is being seen as a boost for the chief minister. It could not have come at a more opportune moment for Amarinder, who, though, the tallest of the party in Punjab, is being openly targeted by a section of the Congress, particularly former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa, who are trying to paint a dismal picture of the party’s poll prospects. The AAP rebels’ entry has provided an opportunity to him to send out a message to the party leadership that he retains his appeal and can get leaders from rival parties. After the meeting, Amarinder said their induction has been approved by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
After joining the Congress, Khaira thanked Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, besides heaping praise on Amarinder for his stand on the three farm laws.
“Justice will definitely be delivered in the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing incidents,” he said. He termed his decision of joining the AAP a “political blunder”.
However, not everyone in the Congress seems pleased with Khaira’s return to the party fold.