Jagmeet joins SAD; Capt mocks

CHANDIGARH/MUKTSAR:As former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, 61, and his younger brother Ripjit Singh, a former MLA, joined the the SAD today, within hours Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh dubbed his bête noire as an “opportunist, who was desperate to return to his mother party (Congress), till the last moment.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal with ex-MP Jagmeet Singh Brar.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Muktsar, April 19

As former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, 61, and his younger brother Ripjit Singh, a former MLA, joined the the SAD today, within hours Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh dubbed his bête noire as an “opportunist, who was desperate to return to his mother party (Congress), till the last moment.”

The CM said he had persistently refused to acknowledge and respond to Jagmeet’s “desperate messages”. The CMO shared a series of messages sent by Jagmeet, suggesting that he could help “fix” the Badals and volunteering to contest the Bathinda seat.

A few months after Captain took over as Punjab Congress chief in December 2015, Jagmeet was expelled from the primary membership of the party in April 2016 for indiscipline and for speaking against the Patiala royal scion.

The CM said it was laughable that Jagmeet had joined the SAD 10 days after seeking forgiveness and promising to give his “remaining years to the Maharaja of Patiala.”

Parkash Singh Badal, SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia came to Jagmeet’s residence in Charewan village for the induction ceremony. Calling it ‘ghar wapsi’, Badal Senior appreciated his oratorical skills. Sukhbir assured the Brar brothers they would be treated as family. “The SAD has been strengthened with your return.”

The former CWC member, said he had joined the SAD unconditionally. “A staunch Congress man for decades, the day I asked the party high command to introspect on the party’s string of defeats, they expelled me,” Jagmeet said. He declined to comment on the CM’s claim that he (Jagmeet) had sent him messages on WhatsApp, requesting that he be taken back into the Congress.

Jagmeet’s loyalists, former Moga MLA Vijay Sathi, former Muktsar DCC chief Gurdas Girdhar, AS Rajeana and Sadhura Singh Daulatpura, stayed away.

Ghar wapsi: Akalis

The Akali Dal has been strengthened with your return. You will be treated as family. —Sukhbir Badal, SAD Chief