Suspended AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap joins BJP
The former Amritsar North legislator claimed Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann caused the party's collapse in Punjab.
Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, hours after resigning from the Punjab Legislative Assembly. According to ANI and The Economic Times, two other rebel leaders, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra, also joined the BJP on Monday after being suspended and resigning from the AAP recently.
Pratap, a former police officer, told ANI that the political presence of the AAP in Punjab has reached its end. He alleged that Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann have brought about the collapse of the party and said that, for all practical purposes, the AAP no longer exists.
The former Amritsar North MLA expressed confidence that a double-engine government will soon be formed in Punjab. He also commented on the state's crime rate and drug menace, stating that during his time as an SP in Amritsar in 2007, 2008, and 2009, both issues were eradicated, but the situation was not brought under control after he left.
This political shift occurs ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. In the 2022 polls, the AAP won 92 of the 117 seats in the state, while the Congress secured 18 seats.
The AAP recently announced its first list of 40 candidates for the upcoming elections. The list includes Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri, Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura, and Minister Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West.