AAP leaders' entry in BJP takes voters by surprise

Tribune News Service

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, March 27

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Member of Parliament Sushil Kumar Rinku and Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural officially joined the BJP today in Delhi. The move caught local AAP workers and voters by surprise, sparking a flurry of mixed reactions on social media.

The speculation about their joining the BJP had been rife for several days. Despite this, both of them dismissed these as rumours. Sheetal Angural went live on his Facebook page to reaffirm his commitment to AAP, while Sushil Rinku, following his announcement as the AAP candidate from Jalandhar, expressed confidence in his victory as a loyal party member during a visit to a local gurudwara recently.

To express their resentment, the AAP workers took to the streets in protest against the defection of these two leaders to the BJP at Babu Jagjivan Ram Chowk here. Expressing disappointment, AAP state general secretary Jagrup Singh Sekhwan highlighted the party’s trust in Rinku, exemplified by his recent announcement as party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Jalandhar. “However, Rinku’s decision to switch sides has rendered the local workers’ efforts and hard work seemingly futile,” he added.

Sekhwan also condemned what he sees as the BJP government’s tactics of intimidation, including the alleged use of agencies like the ED for coercion. He highlighted Sheetal’s prior allegations against Union Minister Amit Shah, citing a purported Rs 25 crore bribe offer, only to now denounce both leaders as traitors for aligning themselves with the same party.

Sources in the AAP revealed that the two leaders had always maintained a strained relationship with party workers since joining AAP. Each had their own set of followers, and they capitalised on the wave of AAP’s popularity to join the party. They said that voters are observing the loyalty of such leaders, and it will ultimately be their votes that deliver a verdict on such turncoats.

Meanwhile, city residents found it difficult to digest this development and took to social media to express their feelings through memes and jokes. Ritvik, a Facebook user, commented that the trend of leaders switching parties before elections has sadly become a ‘new normal’ and a mundane occurrence.

“Those who couldn’t uphold loyalty to the voters who entrusted them with power and instead switched parties for personal gain, what more can we expect,” he remarked. Residents lamented that such political horse-trading and frequent party hopping have tarnished the reputation of Indian politics.

“As voters, we feel disconnected and disheartened as our pressing issues remain unresolved for years, while political leaders, whom we elect to advocate for us, prioritise their own political interests,” they said.

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