Lone AAP Lok Sabha MP Sushil Rinku who once appeared in chains to protest against BJP, joins the party
File photo.
Sushil Kumar Rinku, the lone Aam Aadmi Party parliamentarian, on Wednesday (Mar 27) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just months after famously appearing in chains to protest against India's ruling party.
Apart from Rinku, the AAP's Lok Sabha MP from Jalandhar,AAP legislator from Punjab assembly Sheetal Angural also joined the saffron party in Delhi.
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Welcoming the two leaders, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said people from different walks of life were joining the BJP, adding the situation was changing in Punjab and the party would work together to make India a developed nation by 2047.
Rinku was suspended from Parliament last year
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Rinku, 48, was among the record number of opposition MPs suspended from Parliament in December last year over disrupting House proceedings. The MPs had been demanding a debate over the December 13 Parliament security breach.
Rinku was also suspended during the Monsoon Session of Parliament over unruly behaviour when the House was considering the Delhi Services Bill.
Following his suspension, the 48-year-old protested in chains before Parliament.
Rinku's family associated with Cong for decades
Rinku's family has been associated with the Congress party for over four decades, a report by the Indian Express said.
Rinku too joined the Congress and became an MLA in 2017.
He faced defeat in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections by AAP's Sheetal Angural.
In April 2023, Rinku quit the Congress and joined the AAP ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll.
He won the by-poll after defeating Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.
Why the switch to BJP?
Rinku said on Wednesday he made the switch to the BJP for the development of Jalandhar. He alleged that no development work had been done by the AAP government in Punjab.
"...I am impressed by the developmental work initiated by PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also helped me a lot in the developmental work I have done in the Jalandhar constituency."
(With inputs from agencies)