In a blow to Akali Dal, former two-time MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu joined ruling AAP on Sunday. He is likely to be the AAP candidate from the Jalandhar (SC) seat.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann welcomed Tinu, 57, into the AAP-fold in Chandigarh. Tinu was an MLA in Jalandhar's Adampur in 2012 and 2017 on SAD ticket but was defeated by Congress's Sukhwinder Kotli in 2022. A prominent Dalit leader in Doaba region, Tinu unsuccessfully fought the LS election from Jalandhar in 2014.
Reportedly, Tinu felt ignored after SAD chose Banga MLA Sukhwinder Sukhi for the 2023 Jalandhar LS by-poll. SAD former strategist Gurcharan Singh Channi also joined AAP on Sunday. Channi quit Akali Dal in 2016 but rejoined the SAD recently. He was also feeling sidelined. He has joined AAP “to save the country's democracy and constitution”, Tinu said, adding he was impressed by the AAP government led by Mann's public welfare work. AAP recently renominated Jalandhar's sitting MP SushilKumar Rinku but he jumped ship to BJP. He is now a BJP nominee from the same seat.
