LS polls: Ludhiana MP third Punjab Cong leader to switch sides in 3 weeks

Chandigarh: After Gurpreet Singh GP and Raj Kumar Chabbewal, two former MLAs who switched sides in less than three weeks, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu became the third Congress leader in Punjab on Tuesday to do the same.

Three-time MP Bittu Tuesday joined the BJP in Delhi and said people have made up their mind to elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power again.

Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in a terror attack in 1995.

Ahead of parliamentary elections, former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana Gurpreet GP joined the Aam Aadmi Party on March 9 and was later declared as the party candidate for the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat.

The second leader who quit the Congress was Raj Kumar Chabbewal who also joined the AAP, the ruling party in Punjab, on March 15. He was the legislator from the Chabbewal assembly constituency in Hoshiarpur district and was also the Congress' deputy leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly.

Reacting to Bittu's move of leaving the Congress and joining the BJP, Punjab Congress leaders said people will not forgive Bittu for "gaddari" (betrayal).

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said he spoke to Bittu on Monday night and he did not talk about any problem with the party.

"Bittu was connected with the party leadership and he could talk to Rahul (Gandhi) ji anytime," said Warring.

Asked whether he was not going to be given the ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, Warring said there was no such thing.

"Remember...whosoever is leaving the party be it Chabbewal, Gurpreet GP and now Bittu, people will not forgive them," he said.

"Bittu is my brother. He should not have left the party this way," said Warring.

Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said Bittu was given the ticket twice from Ludhiana.

With PTI inputs