Three rebel AAP MLAs join Congress

Chandigarh: Rebel Aam Aadmi Party legislators Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Jagdev Singh Kamalu and Pirmal Singh joined the Congress on Thursday, at a time the ruling party in Punjab is embroiled in infighting and factionalism.

Khaira returned to the Congress nearly six years after quitting it.

He had joined the AAP in December 2015 and was elected from Bholath assembly seat in 2017. He resigned from the primary membership of the AAP in January 2019 and had floated his own outfit –Punjabi Ekta Party.

Jagdev Singh Kamalu is a legislator from Maur seat and Pirmal Singh Dhaula and MLA Bhadaur. Both are first-time legislators. The legislators were inducted into the Congress party before Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was to head for Delhi to attend a meeting with a three-member panel formed to resolve differences among its leaders in Punjab.

Amarinder Singh and his former cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu have been at loggerheads in the recent past. Sidhu has publicly criticised the chief minister.

In a Facebook post of the Punjab Congress, the chief minister induction of the three senior leaders has been approved by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.