Lok Sabha Elections 2024: In a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, senior party leader from Punjab Raj Kumar Chabbewal on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the Grand Old party with immediate effect and joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The 54-year-old Congress MLA said he has quit as a legislator from Chabbewal assembly constituency in Hoshiarpur district. The prominent Dalit leader was the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly.
Chabbewal is the second Congress leader from Punjab to join the AAP within a week. Gurpreet Singh GP, a former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana, had recently joined the AAP. Chabbewal was welcomed into the party by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
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"The family of AAP Punjab strengthened, current MLA from Chabewal Constituency of Hoshiarpur District Rajkumar Chabewal ji joined the Aam Aadmi Party after being influenced by the pro-people policies of the party. We welcome Raj Chabbewal to the party," the AAP Punjab unit posted on X.
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Without mentioning any reason for his resignation, Chabbewal said "I tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress with immediate effect." Chabbewal was re-elected from Chabbewal in the 2022 State Assembly elections.
Despite reaching a seat-sharing agreement in New Delhi, the Congress and AAP, partners in the opposition INDIA coalition established to take on the Modi-led BJP government, will contest elections independently in Punjab in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The AAP, which is the first party to announce its candidates, released its first list of eight candidates for the Punjab Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. There are 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab with four seats reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress-led UPA alliance clinched 8 seats, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) managed to secure four. The AAP, which was contesting for the first time in the state won one seat.