Former AAP Punjab convener joins Shiromani Akali Dal, to contest elections

Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, former Punjab AAP convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Thursday joined the Shiromani Akali Dal in the presence of party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in Chandigarh. Chhotepur, who was removed from his post by AAP in August 2016, shall contest in the upcoming polls from the Batala assembly seat. He has also been appointed the Akali Dal's senior vice president.

Chhotepur was removed from AAP on charges of corruption which he denied. He was accused of taking money from a ticket aspirant ahead of the 2017 assembly polls.

SAD chief Badal said that Chhotepur is an 'honest' politician who played a key role in building AAP in Punjab. However, the party then 'deceived' him, he alleged. His joining would be a boost for the party in the Majha region and across Punjab, he added.

"Chhotepur will be the candidate of the SAD-BSP alliance from Batala seat," he said.

Chhotepur, too, slammed the previous organisation he was associated with and said that there is a big difference between what AAP leadership says and does. It also ignored the workers who worked hard to build the party, he alleged. Following his removal from AAP, Chhotepur formed his own outfit called Apna Punjab Party.

Chhotepur was a minister in the Surjit Singh Barnala-led government in Punjab in 1985. He contested independently from Dhariwal in 2002 and defeated SAD candidate Sucha Singh Langah. But in 2012, he was defeated by Congress candidate Charanjit Kaur Bajwa when he contested independently from Qadian assembly seat in Gurdaspur. He also contested unsuccessfully on an AAP ticket from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat in 2014.