Eight months after Congress exit, Amarinder Singh likely to join BJP

New Delhi: Eight months after his exit from the Congress, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to join and merge his party with the BJP. Singh, who is currently in London for a back surgery, had formed Punjab Lok Congress after exiting from the Congress last year. According to the sources, the talks of an alliance between Punjab Lok Congress and BJP are in the final stages. “He (Amarinder Singh) is likely to merge his Punjab Lok Congress party with the BJP after his return next week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Singh after his surgery on Sunday,” NDTV quoted the sources as saying. Singh quit the Congress, his party of five decades, after he was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief minister of Punjab last year.

In a letter to Sonia Gandhi, Singh said he had been humiliated thrice by the leadership and couldn’t take it anymore. The 89-year-old also warned that he still had politics in him yet, and that he was not about to walk into the sunset.

He had, however, denied joining the BJP then and floated his own party. He contested the April-May Punjab election in an alliance with the BJP but lost the Patiala seat and even forfeited his deposit. Sources said the main challenge for the BJP is how to accommodate Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur, who is a former Union minister and sitting Member of Parliament from Patiala. “Preneet Kaur has reportedly decided to hang her boots and hand over the mantle to her daughter Jai Inder Kaur. She wants the BJP to promise the Patiala Lok Sabha ticket to Jai Inder Kaur,”  New Indian Express reported quoting sources. “The BJP leadership is reportedly not happy with the fact that Perneet Kaur has not left the Congress even as her husband and most of his friends have deserted the party,” added the sources. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.