Blow to AAP in Punjab as Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku Likely to Join BJP, Say Sources

Sources to the news agency PTI say that Jalandhar Aam Aadmi Party MP Sushil Rinku will join the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.  Reports also suggest that the AAP MP had certain issues with the party and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. In relation to this, the CM met with him at a hotel on Tuesday, March 26.

Rinku became the Lok Sabha MP from Jalandhar in Punjab last year after winning a bypoll there by a huge margin. He is the only AAP member in the outgoing Lok Sabha. A former Congress MLA, Rinku switched to the AAP on April 27, 2023, and a day later, he was declared the AAP candidate from the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

AAP's Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku likely to join BJP: Sources

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 27, 2024

It is learnt that Rinku has been seeking financial support from the party for his campaign since the announcement of his candidature last week. The MP’s supporters have said that since it was his third election for the third consecutive year, he had certain demands regarding getting aid from the party.

AAP MP from Jalandhar (Punjab) Sushil Kumar Rinku and party's MLA in the state Sheetal Angural likely to join the BJP today.

(Pic 1: File pic of Sushil Kumar Rinku; Pic 2: Sheetal Angural's Facebook page) pic.twitter.com/yVQ5vw4ZrD

— ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2024

Reports also suggest that the AAP's MLA Sheetal Angural will join the BJP with Sushil Kumar Rinku.