New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) Ahead of the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, former DGP Sarbdeep Singh Virk, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sarabjit Singh Makkar, and other prominent leaders on Friday joined the BJP.
Virk, Makkar and others like Punjab Cooperative Bank's former Chairman Avtar Singh Zira, industrialist Harcharan Singh Ranauta joined the saffron party here in presence of Union Minister and BJP Punjab election in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Union Minister Som Prakash was also present.
Welcoming the leaders in the party, Shekhawat said that the BJP will be strengthened in Punjab. "They have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they will strengthen the organisation in the state. BJP is moving ahead in Punjab and will create a new history," he said, noting all the new joinees are prominent names in their respective fields.
Makkar said: "I had said that the day Prime Minister Modi will take back the farm laws, I will join the BJP and today I have done the same."
He claimed that in coming days, more people will join the BJP.
On December 1, SAD leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa had joined the BJP. Before joining the BJP in the evening, Sirsa resigned the post of president Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee. In August, five SAD leaders had joined the BJP.
Sharing details, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota said keeping in view the recent recoveries of RDX, hand grenades and pistols from the border district, strong barricading has been done.
The BJP, which is likely to contest the Punjab assembly polls on its own for the first time after its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) walked away, will be banking on leaders from the opposition parties and prominent personalities to make its electoral presence felt in the state. In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP had won only three out of the 23 seats it contested.
Slamming Amarinder Singh for his "myopic" mindset towards the poor, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Friday that the former CM targeted him because he had raised issues of the common man.
Accepting a farm activist's revocation application to revoke the varietal registration of Pepsico India Holding on potato variety FL-2027, The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Authority on Friday revoked the registration, the multinational had. Even at the global level, this is the first time that the multinational had to face such a defeat.
Days after the Parliament repealed the three contentious farm laws, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) will be holding a crucial meeting on Saturday to discuss whether to end the over-an-year- old agitation, among other issues. The meeting will be held at the Singhu Border camp site, which acted as the headquarters for the SKM.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced to provide high quality free education to the children of Punjab in government schools, if his party forms the government.
