Picture : Twitter/ ANI
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh formally joined the BJP on Monday at the party headquarters here in presence of union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Kiren Rijiju.
Amarinder Singh also merged his party Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) with BJP. Earlier in the day, Amarinder Singh met BJP chief JP Nadda in Delhi.
Talking to reporters at the BJP headquarters, Amarinder Singh said he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP president JP Nadda.
Former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh joins BJP; merges his party Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) with BJP pic.twitter.com/nXCINNzNLI
— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2022
Singh further stated, It is now time to join a party that is looking after the interests of the country .
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju hailed Amarinder Singh joining the party and said right-thinking people of the country should be united.
“A sensitive state like Punjab should be handled carefully. During his tenure as CM, he never kept politics before national security,” Rijiju said.
Amarinder made the announcement of joining the BJP after he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 12 in Delhi.
Amarinder Singh served Congress for long years and resigned as Chief Minister in September last year ahead of assembly polls.
He later also resigned from the Congress and formed Punjab Lok Congress which tied up with BJP and SAD (Sanyukt) for the assembly polls held early this year.
Amarinder Singh’s joining the BJP is a big shot in the arm for the party in the border state. The BJP now has a credible Sikh face in Punjab who has been active in state politics for several decades.
Punjab is a border state, and I have seen our relations with Pakistan deteriorating…Drones are coming into our territory now to create complete chaos in Punjab. China is also not far from us. It’s our duty to protect our state and the country: Capt Amarinder Singh was quoted as saying by ANI after joining BJP and addressing the media.
