Jalandhar Byelection: Congress ex-MLA Sushil Rinku joins AAP, likely party candidate

Deepkamal Kaur

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Jalandhar, April 5

After speculation for over a month, former Jalandhar West Congress MLA and Dalit leader Sushil Rinku joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today. Sources said he was likely to be announced the party candidate for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll.

The joining ceremony was held at a resort near Phagwara. National convener Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha were among those present.

CM Mann said, “We follow a system of conducting surveys and asking people about their choice of candidate. It was done even during my announcement as the CM face. The party will follow the same procedure for the Jalandhar bypoll candidate too.”

AAP’s move to rope in Rinku is likely to dent the prospects of the Congress in the coming elections. Traditionally, Jalandhar has been a Congress bastion, which the ruling AAP is attempting to break in these elections. Despite a wave in favour of AAP in 2022, the Congress had managed to win five of the nine Assembly seats here. Two weeks ago, AAP had also roped in former Akali MLA from Jalandhar Cantt Jagbir Brar.

Rinku had sought the ticket from the Congress for contesting the Jalandhar LS bypoll, but the party high command chose to take advantage of the sympathy factor by announcing the name of Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, widow of deceased Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. Chaudhary died due to a cardiac arrest during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 14 this year after which the seat had fallen vacant.

Till noon, Congress leaders kept dissuading Rinku from switching over to AAP. All this while, Rinku had been attending all party events and meetings with senior party leaders, including the recently held “Save the Constitution” campaign.

Last night, he, along with Jalandhar bypoll incharge of the Congress and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh and Shahkot MLA Hardev Laddi, had dined together. However, Rinku chose to break relations with his coterie too in the hope of better prospects. Seemingly annoyed, Laddi said, “Rinku has been like my brother but now we will campaign against him and ensure his defeat.”

After Rinku’s joining, there were speculations that AAP Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural, who had been trying to scuttle his entry owing to their extremely bitter relations, could show defiance. However, on the contrary, he attended the event and said he welcomed Rinku and would support him too.