Ahead of the state Assembly polls, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that the party's chief ministerial candidate for Punjab will be from the Sikh community.
"Aam Aadmi Party's CM candidate for Punjab will be from the Sikh community. It is the right of the Sikh community. The face of the Chief Minister will be discussed later, but whosoever he will be, Punjab will be proud of that person," Arvind Kejriwal was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
In a boost to the AAP in Punjab ahead of Assembly elections slated for next year, former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on Monday joined the outfit in presence of Kejriwal in Amritsar.
"Kunwar Vijay Pratap is not a politician. He was called 'aam aadmi ka policewala'. We all are here to serve the nation. With this sentiment, he has joined the party today," said Kejriwal after induction of the former IPS officer in the AAP.
Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh took premature retirement in April after the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed a report filed by the earlier Punjab Police SIT into the Kotkapura firing incident in 2015 after the alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot district.
He was part of the Special Investigation Team which was probing the 2015 Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan policing firing incidents. The court had then directed the state government to set up a new SIT without Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had initially refused to accept the resignation of Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who otherwise was to retire in 2029. But when the former IG-rank officer remained firm on his stand, the chief minister accepted his premature retirement request.
In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
