Captain Amarinder Singh to merge Punjab Lok Congress with BJP

NEW DELHI: Captain Amarinder Singh, the former Punjab Chief Minister is set to formally join hands with BJP after returning from London. He is likely to return to India by the end of next week after recuperating from a lower back surgery.

After quitting Congress last year, he formed a new political party, Punjab Lok Congress. His exit from Congress after he served the party for five decades comes as he was removed from the CM post late last year.

Sources reveal that he intends to merge his new party with the saffron one.

In the follow-up of the Captain's resignation from Congress, several other senior party leaders have quit and made alliances with the BJP. This includes the former Punjab Pradesh Congress President (PPCC) and state minister Sunil Jakhar, and four senior ministers from the Captain's Cabinet - a Dalit leader Raj Kumar Verka from Majha, PPCC working president Sundar Sham Arora, and prominent Jat-Sikh leaders Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar.

Sources said the main challenge that the BJP is currently facing on this front is the way to accommodate the Captain's wife Preneet Kaur, former Union minister and sitting Member of Parliament from Patiala.

She is currently negotiating with the BJP for an offer for the Patiala Lok Sabha ticket to Jai Inder Kaur, her daughter, according to news portals.

The details of the merger of the Captain's party with the BJP will become clear after he returns from London. The BJP will take a decision on Preneet's entry into the BJP after holding discussions with him.