In a fresh setback to the party, Punjab Congress Legislature Party (CLP) deputy leader Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, resigned from the party and the assembly and joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here on Friday.
On Saturday last only, another prominent Dalit leader and former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana, Gurpreet Singh GP, had joined AAP and the AAP had fielded him from Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat. Dr Chabbewal, 53, was inducted in the party in the presence of finance minister Harpal Cheema and sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.
Speaking on the occasion, Cheema said that Dr Chabbewal quit the negative energy of the Congress to join the AAP vision of revitalising the youth. Dr Chabbewal said he came from a humble background as his father was a peon who wanted to educate his children. Stating that he joined politics for the welfare of people, he said that he was joining AAP as education and health were its priority.
He is likely to be fielded from Hoshiarpur reserved Lok Sabha seat by the AAP which has already announced eight of the total 13 candidates. He was Congress candidate from Hoshiarpur seat in 2019 but he lost to BJP’s Som Parkash by over 48,000 votes.
Dr Chabbewal had joined Congress 2009 and was first elected to the Chabbewal assembly seat in 2017 and he repeated his win in 2022. He was made the deputy leader of the CLP in April, 2022. He was also the chairperson of the state Congress SC wing. A radiologist by profession, he runs a diagnostic centre in Hoshiarpur.
