Former chief minister and Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Amarinder Singh will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tomorrow, Monday, a party spokesperson said, according to news agency PTI. Singh will also merge his newly formed party with the BJP.
80-year-old politician abruptly quit Congress Resignation from the post of Chief Minister of Punjab and formed plc in 2021. In Delhi, he will formally join the BJP in the presence of JP Nadda and other top personalities.
The veteran politician recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, amid rumors that he was likely to get a prominent position after joining the BJP. He is expected to depart for New Delhi on 18 September.
Captain Amarinder Singh started the PLC after leaving the Congress in September 2021 after being unexpectedly removed from the post of Chief Minister by the party’s top leadership. Charanjit Singh Channi succeeded as the Chief Minister of Punjab till the elections in February 2022. Channi lost in the election that Captain Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party contested.
Singh first stressed the need to determine the minority status of a community at the federal level rather than at the state level.
PLC HeadThe main argument of the petitioner, as quoted by PTI, is that Sikhs are not a minority in Punjab and hence, minority status cannot be given to these institutions.
“This implies that the minority status of a community should be determined state-wise and not at the national level,” he said in the letter. He said that at present, the minority status of different communities is decided at the national level and rightly so.
He said, in a sincere request to PM Modi, it was strongly believed that the existing mechanism of deciding the minority status of different communities in the country at the national level should continue.
(with inputs from agencies)
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