Punjab: Big jolt to Congress, Dalit leader favors AAP before Jalandhar by-election

In the high-stakes battle for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, the challenge to the Congress got tougher on Monday with popular Dalit leader and former MLA Sushil Rinku joining the AAP in the presence of national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Rinku is most likely to be named as the AAP candidate for the May 10 bypoll, even though the party has not made an official announcement.

Hours before Rinku formally joined the AAP, the Congress issued an expulsion order for the leader, even though reports of her switching sides had been doing the rounds for the past one month.

“We follow a system of conducting surveys and asking people about the candidate of their choice. The same was done during my announcement as the CM face. The party will follow the same process for the candidate for the Jalandhar bypoll.

The Congress has announced Karamjit Kaur as its candidate, but with less than a month left for the election, a senior Dalit leader is expected to be a big blow. Karamjit is the widow of Santokh Singh Chowdhary, who died of a heart attack during senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. His death necessitated the by-election.

According to sources, Rinku had sought a ticket from the constituency, but the Congress high command chose Karamjit instead, capitalizing on the “sympathy factor”. Congress tried until the last minute to avoid the switch. Rinku managed to formally join AAP as she was seen at some of the party’s events including the recently held ‘Save the Constitution’ campaign.

Jalandhar has traditionally been a Congress bastion and the party won five of the nine assembly seats in the last assembly elections despite the AAP wave. Meanwhile, AAP is trying to make inroads in the reserved constituency and the induction of a Dalit leader could give it a much-needed boost.

A shivering Congress tries to downplay the crossover, even as party leaders say it will now highlight AAP’s statement of not fielding a “common man” but a Congress leader Will hunt

State Congress chief Amarinder Raja Waring said AAP was picking up Congress leaders out of desperation. But the election results will make the picture absolutely clear. AAP will be exposed,” he said.

“AAP has picked up junk from the backyard of the Congress. From above Arvind Kajriwal came to join Rinku in Aam Aadmi Party as if a big leader is joining the party. This exposes their double standards,” said Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa.

Rinku started his political career as a corporator in the municipal body. After becoming MLA in 2017, his wife Sunita Rinku became corporator from the area in 2018.

AAP’s victory in the Jalandhar bypoll has become imperative after AAP’s humiliating defeat in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll last year. A few weeks ago, it also inducted former Akali MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment, Jagbir Brar.

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