Punjab: Former cricketer Dinesh Mongia, two Congress sitting MLAs join BJP

BATHINDA: In a setback to the ruling Congress party in the state, two sitting MLAs - Fatehjung Singh

Bajwa

and Balwinder Singh Ladi- joined BJP on Tuesday.

Bajwa and Ladi are MLAs from Qadian and Sri Hargobindpur respectively. Both assembly segments fall in the Gurdaspur district.

Earlier Congress party's sitting MLA Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi had joined the saffron party.

While in Delhi, ex-MP

Rajdev Singh Khalsa

and ex-MLA Gurtej Singh Ghuriana also joined BJP in Delhi in the presence of BJP Punjab in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Cricketer Dinesh Mongia too joined BJP along with the politicians.

Fatehjung Singh Bajwa’s elder brother Partap Singh Bajwa is sitting member of

Rajya Sabha

from Congress and has staked claim to the party's ticket from Qadian in Gurdaspur. As per sources, the relations had gone sour over it and Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu had held a rally in favour of Fatehjung Bajwa.

Rajdev Singh Khalsa was elected MP from Sangrur in 1989 on Akali Dal Panthik, then led by ex-MP Simranjit Singh Mann. Gurtej Singh Ghuriana had won thrice in 1997, 2007 and 2012 from Balluana assembly segment in district Fazilka.

Rajdev Singh Khalsa earlier had joined

Rashtriya Sikh Sangat

and had raised some issues about sacrilege making an allegation that SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had met Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim in Mumbai at a place connected to actor Akshay Kumar. Later the SIT probing sacrilege cases had also summoned Akshay Kumar.