New Delhi: In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, three of its leaders, including two sitting MLAs, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, launching a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led government over alleged governance failures, rising criminal activities and unemployment.
The leaders who switched sides are Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, Chetan Singh Jouramajra and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. While Pathanmajra represents Sanour and Jouramajra represents Samana, Vijay Pratap Singh resigned as the MLA from Amritsar North on Monday before joining the BJP.
The leaders formally joined the saffron party at its national headquarters in Delhi in the presence of BJP Punjab in-charge Satish Poonia, co-in-charge Virendra Sachdeva and other senior leaders.
Following his induction, Vijay Pratap Singh criticised the AAP government, alleging that Punjab was grappling with unemployment and that gangsters were increasingly gaining influence in the corridors of power.
The former IPS officer also called for restoring good governance and claimed that the BJP could bring peace back to the state.
Vijay Pratap Singh was suspended from the AAP for five years in June last year over alleged anti-party activities. He had remained critical of the state government’s handling of the 2015 sacrilege and police-firing cases in Faridkot.
Meanwhile, Pathanmajra flagged the growing debt burden on farmers and the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab. He said a BJP government could restore law and order, citing Uttar Pradesh as an example of how hooliganism had been brought under control.
BJP Punjab president Kewal Singh Dhillon also criticised the AAP government, alleging that issues such as drug abuse and law and order had worsened under its rule. He expressed confidence that the BJP would defeat the ruling party in the upcoming Assembly elections.
BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill described the defections as “just the beginning”, claiming that a larger exodus of AAP leaders was likely in the coming days.
The political development comes a day after the AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. The party had not announced candidates for Samana and Sanour at the time of the defections.
