Punjab: In major blow to Amarinder Singh, CM's one of most trusted officers likely to join Aam Aadmi Party

In a suuden twist, former Punjab Police Inspector-General Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh is likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Amritsar on Monday (June 21) ahead of the assembly elections. According to a India Today report, the induction ceremony could take place in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP's national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who will be visiting Amritsar on Monday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted that he will be visiting Punjab on Monday. The visit comes ahead of the Assembly polls next year.

Notably, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh was one of the most trusted officers of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. He leaded the SIT to probe the 2015 Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents besides the sacrilege cases. The officer had sought premature retirement and resigned on April 11 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 9 quashed the SIT investigation.

But the CM had initially refused to accept Kunwar Vijay Pratap's resignation.

The sacrilege cases in Punjab are likely to become a poll plank in the 2022 assembly elections. However, the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) who was in power when the sacrilege incidents took place got a sigh of relief after the court quashed the SIT report, the ruling Congress is on trial for delaying the probe and having failed to arrest the culprits.

The court had observed that it was “political theatrics intended to create a narrative in favour of one political party and against the other”.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh's move to join AAP is being seen as a major support to the arm for Arvind Kejriwal’s party, which has been cornering both SAD and Congress on the sacrilege issue.