Turncoats giving parties jitters in Punjab

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, April 9

The ‘Aaya Ram and Gaya Ram’ politicians, also called turncoats and controversially termed ‘snollygosters’ by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, are popping up every other day in the multi-cornered Lok Sabha poll in Punjab.

From a former Chief Minister to MPs or MLAs, leaders across political parties feature on the list of party hoppers and it continues to grow.

Capt Amarinder Singh, who twice became the Chief Minister of the state representing the Congress, will be campaigning for the BJP and his wife Preneet Kaur, who has also joined the BJP and is the party’s candidate from Patiala. Capt Amarinder started his political career with the Congress in 1980 but in protest against the Operation Bluestar, he resigned from the party and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. In 1992, he left SAD and formed a splinter Akali group called Akali Dal (Panthic), but merged it with the Congress in 1998.

Manpreet Badal, nephew of five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, has the experience of four parties. He started with the Shiromani Akali Dal but formed his own outfit People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) in 2011 but lost miserably in the 2012 Assembly elections. He later joined the Congress and became the Finance Minister only to leave the party and join the BJP. He is not contesting the elections this time.

Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, grandson of the late CM Beant Singh, surprised everyone in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections by joining the BJP. He is the sitting MP from Ludhiana and will contest again on the BJP ticket.

BJP state president Sunil Jakhar too was in the Congress before switching over to the BJP. Similarly, former Congress Health Minister Balbir Sidhu joined the BJP in 2022, but returned to the Congress fold later.

MP Sushil Kumar Rinku leads the list as a classic example of ‘Aaya Ram and Gaya Ram’. From a Congress MLA in 2017, he joined AAP for the Jalandhar bypoll in 2023 and became an MP. He was among the first candidates announced by AAP but to its utter shock, Rinku didn’t start campaigning saying he had no funds to bear the expenses. Later, he joined the BJP.

CM Bhagwant Mann could not keep him in the flock and Rinku joined the BJP last month to re-contest from Jalandhar. He had called the BJP the killer of democracy when AAP MPs were suspended from the Parliament.

Among the Akali leaders, ex-MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa (likely candidate from Sangrur) have returned to the Shiromani Akali Dal after parting ways in 2020 over issues with the Badal family. They remained close with the BJP during that period. There are reports that another senior Akali leader Sikander Singh Maluka and his family may join the BJP soon.

Cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu left lucrative career as cricket commentator and later TV shows to represent the BJP thrice in Parliament. He returned to cricket commentary in the ongoing IPL season over differences with state Congress leaders.

Patiala ex-MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, who had left AAP to become a rebel, has now joined the Congress to contest elections from Patiala. Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, sitting Congress MLA from Chabbewal, has joined AAP this elections and will contest from the Hoshiarpur seat.

AAP MLA Sheetal Angural from Jalandhar West left AAP with MP Sushil Rinku to join the BJP.

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