Another setback for AAP as senior leader Karwal, others join Cong

In yet another setback to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Ludhiana, Kamaljit Singh Karwal joined the Congress along with two other former councillors, Gurpreet Singh Gopi and Ranjit Singh Ubbi, ahead of the Ludhiana West bypoll, slated to be held on June 19.

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Earlier on Friday, Satnam Singh Sunny Master, a sitting councillor from Ward 58, which falls in the Ludhiana West Assembly segment, along with Karan Warring, a senior BJP leader, and Paramvir Singh, nephew of the late MLA Gurpreet Gogi, also joined the Congress.

Karwal, who was once close to Simarjit Singh Bains and had stronghold in the Atam Nagar and Ludhiana South constituencies, used to decide the fate of the candidates. Karwal has also been associated with parties such as SAD, BJP and Congress in the past.

They were inducted into the party at a function presided over by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi and attended by former ministers Rana Gurjeet Singh, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who is the party candidate from Ludhiana West, Sunder Sham Arora, former MP Mohammad Sadiq, former MLA Ramanjit Singh SIkki, Parminder Pinky, Kaka Lohgarh, Dr Raj Kumar Verka, Madan Lal Jalalpur and others.

Welcoming them into the party, Channi said: “The writing was on the wall as the exodus of leaders and workers from the ruling AAP had started and its exit was imminent. He pointed out that normally during byelections, it is people from opposition parties who join the ruling party. “But here a reverse trend is happening as the people have realised that AAP was on the way out and the Congress was on a comeback trail,” he remarked.

Rana Gurjeet, who is the chairman of the Congress Campaign Committee for the Ludhiana West byelection, said: “Coming events cast their shadow before,” while referring to senior AAP leaders leaving the party and joining the Congress.

He said many more people would join it in coming day.

Karwal said it was a homecoming for him. He said he had seen it personally in other parties that there was no better party than the Congress, which could provide a honest and efficient people-friendly government to the people of the state.

Moreover, he said, he had seen Ashu’s work for the past three decades since he became the councillor for the first time.

“If you don’t support Ashu, you will be doing great injustice not only to him but to Ludhiana also,” he said, adding Ludhiana needs dynamic leaders such as Ashu, and not anyone else. — TNS