'Right man in the right party': Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh congratulates Sunil Jakhar after latter joins BJP

Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday congratulated veteran ex-Congress leader Sunil Jakhar after the latter joined Bharatiya Janata Party today.

Capt Amarinder Singh called Jakhar the 'right man in the right party' and took a swipe at the Congress for good measure, declaring 'honest and upright leaders like him (Jakhar) cannot breathe in the INC anymore'.

Singh's tweet came hours after Sunil Jakhar was inducted into the BJP by party chief JP Nadda in Delhi.

Jakhar quit the Congress last week; he signed off saying 'good luck and goodbye' after a no-holds-barred Facebook Live critique of the GOP.

After joining BJP, Sunil Jakhar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept him into the party fold.

Jakhar, a prominent Hindu leader in Punjab, joined the BJP in the presence of party president J P Nadda. The 68-year-old leader had quit the Congress last week with a "good luck and good bye" message.

Welcoming him to the BJP, Nadda said Jakhar enjoyed a special stature in Punjab that was independent of the party and will help the BJP strengthen nationalist forces in the border state.

"BJP is emerging as the number one nationalist force in Punjab. Hence it is necessary for all leaders having nationalist ideology to join the BJP to strengthen the party and for a stronger Punjab," Nadda said.

Belonging to the Jat community, Sunil, son of a Congress stalwart and a popular farmers' leader Balram Jakhar, is a three-term MLA and a former Lok Sabha member from Gurdaspur.

"It is not easy to break a relationship with the Congress that spanned three generations - from 1972 till now. We had been with the Congress in good times and bad," he said.

Published on: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 08:11 PM IST