HS Phoolka felicitated for legal battle for anti-Sikh riot victims; ex-AAP leader rules out joining 'any political party'

New Delhi: Former AAP leader HS Phoolka was felicitated on Sunday for his legal battle for anti-Sikh riot victims at an event hosted by Union minister Vijay Goel, who said the doors of the BJP were open for all “good” people. Phoolka, though accepted his “closeness” with several BJP leaders, ruled out joining any political party. “BJP has always supported us in our fight for anti-Sikh riots victims. I met Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and they supported my stand on it,” Phoolka told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_5838501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of HS Phoolka. PTI[/caption] He, however, denied speculations that he might join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “I am not joining any political party,” he said. Goel lauded Phoolka as a “good man” and his friend who fought to give justice to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. “It does not matter that he was associated with AAP. He is a good person who did a good thing. That is why we are felicitating him. People ask me if he will join my party. BJP wants all good people to join it,” he said. Phoolka had resigned earlier this month from the Aam Aadmi Party without giving any reason behind the move. He had met Goel to greet him on his birthday on 4 January, amid speculations that he might join the BJP. Commenting on Phoolka’s resignation from AAP, Goel had said, “He quit AAP recently. (It is) better late than never.” Phoolka has avoided giving any reason for quitting the AAP and expressed his desire to float a non-political outfit in Punjab to fight the drug menace and the perceived politicisation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). He, however, was averse to any alliance between the AAP and the Congress. Reports about a pre-poll tie-up between the two parties is doing the rounds, with none of them denying it officially. The sources claimed Phoolka was also annoyed over the AAP’s stand on the demand to strip former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of the Bharat Ratna for “justifying” the anti-Sikh riots. Phoolka had said that the conversion of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement into a political party in 2012 was a wrong step. He has not declared his future political move, though he has announced he will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election.