Captain Arminder Singh to merge his party PLC with BJP

On Monday, Captain Amarinder Singh, the former Punjabi chief minister, will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Amarinder Singh would probably merge the PLC and the BJP on September 19 in the capital, according to PLC spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal.

“Had a very productive meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah Ji. Discussed various issues pertaining to National security, the rising cases of narco-terrorism in Punjab and the future roadmap for the overall holistic development of Punjab,” Singh had tweeted.

After his abrupt resignation as chief minister, he left Congress and launched the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) the previous year. In Delhi, Singh will formally join the BJP in the presence of JP Nadda, the party’s president, and other top figures.

“Seven former MLAs and one former MP, who joined the PLC, will be among those to follow Singh on Monday, PLC spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal told PTI over phone. Other office bearers and district presidents of the PLC will join the BJP in a separate event in Chandigarh next week”, Baliawal added.

Before parting with the Congress, Amarinder Singh ran for the Punjab Assembly in alliance with the BJP. Amarinder, a former Congress veteran, left the grand old party in November of last year, one and a half months after Charanjit Singh Channi removed him as chief minister as a result of his protracted disagreement with Navjot Singh Sidhu, the state party’s then-leader.

Channi, on the other hand, failed to win either of the seats for which he contested, and the Congress was heavily trounced in the Assembly elections in February. The PLC stood for office in a coalition with the BJP and the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyuk). However, none of its candidates were able to win, and Singh himself lost in Patiala Urban on his home turf.