"Bhagwant Mann Has Destroyed Punjab": 3 AAP MLAs Join BJP Ahead Of Polls

Monday brought more worry for the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab. Suspended AAP MLA and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh resgined as a legislator this morning. Hours later, he joined the BJP. Two more suspended MLAs, who quit the party on Sunday, also joined the BJP, presenting a united front.

All three were suspended for anti-party activities.

The resignations come at a crucial time for the AAP, which is facing a political challenge ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections due early next year.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, MLA from the Amritsar North seat, Chetan Singh Jouramajra from Samana and Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra from Sanour in Punjab's Patiala district reached the BJP headquarters in Delhi for the formal joining event. 

With a customary membership joining slip, BJP flags slung around their necks, smiles, and big handshakes the transition to the BJP was complete. 

The three new recruits, along with other BJP leaders, held each other's hands and then raised them high above their heads to project unity. The smiles never left their faces.

The development comes as the AAP on Saturday announced its first list of 40 candidates, naming Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri, Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura and Minister Sanjeev Arora, who is currently in jail, from Ludhiana West.

In a post on X, Kunwar Vijay Pratap, who was suspened from AAP in June last year, called for a collective effort to rise above "the politics of lanes and ribbon-cutting" and to bring Punjab, which he described as "trapped by drugs, extortion, gangsterism and corruption", back to being a progressive state.

"In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party is finished; Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann themselves have brought about its end. The Aam Aadmi Party, for all practical purposes, no longer exists. A 'double-engine' government will be formed in Punjab as well," Kunwar Pratap said after joining the BJP.

"As for the crime rate, I served as an SP in Amritsar; back in 2007, 2008, and 2009, we completely eradicated both the drug menace and crime. However, after I left, the situation was never brought under control again," he added.

Echoing a similar sentiment, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra said that the aim to tranform state to "Ubharta Punjab".

"When the Aam Aadmi Party first arrived in Punjab-they presented a very compelling vision. It was precisely because of those ideas that the Aam Aadmi Party was able to form a government within such a vast political system. However, over time, those who spoke up-those who championed the cause of Punjab-began to have their wings clipped. Today, Punjab is often referred to as 'Udta Punjab', but we all aspire to transform it into a 'Ubharta Punjab'. AAP have pushed Punjab into a quagmire. The Aam Aadmi Party has taken on more debt than any other government, leaving Punjab in a dire state," he said.

Taking a swipe at the AAP, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukbir Badal predicted that everyone will leave the ruling AAP and Bhagwant Mann will lose his seat. 

"No one will be left in the AAP. Everyone will leave. Only a lucky few among them will become MLAs. Bhagwant Mann himself will lose his election from Dhuri. People are fed up with them," Sukhbir Badal said.