Amritsar/Patiala, Jan 14 (UNI) Former AAP leader Daljit Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal youth leader Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra today joined the Congress party. Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh welcomed Dr Daljit Singh into the party fold, with the confidence that his entry into the party would give it a strong boost in the golden city of Punjab. Describing Dr Singh as a prominent citizen and eye surgeon, the PPCC chief said he had come to Amritsar specially to welcome into the Punjab Congress, which would be further strengthened with his entry. A large number of other AAP supporters as well as BJP councillor Dr Anoop also joined the Congress on the occasion. Terming AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal dangerous for the country, with conspiracies and not service their only agenda, Dr Singh said he had decided to join the Congress to ensure that AAP does not win a single seat in the coming assembly polls. Capt Singh told the mediapersons that Punjab did not want Kejriwal, who was an anarchist, to come and disturb its peace. Not a single ticket was being given to AAP without its senior leaders taking money, and widespread complaints of molestation of women showed the extent to which Kejriwal’s party had stooped in its obsession for power. Pointing out that the AAP campaign was being managed by outsiders, Capt Singh said it was clear that the party did not trust or support Punjabis. Dr Singh had lost to Capt Singh in the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Amritsar after giving a good fight on behalf of the AAP. However, he was expelled by AAP in July 2016 as its Punjab disciplinary committee chairman and state executive member for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities. Dr Singh, who had charged senior AAP leaders Sucha Singh Chhotepur and Sanjay Singh with trying to ruin the party, said he was completely disillusioned by the way the party was being run under Mr Kejriwal’s leadership. He claimed he was removed from the party since he objected to its way of functioning and had even warned of a vertical split, which had subsequently happened. Dr Singh said there was no democracy within AAP and anyone daring to speak up against the malpractices in the party was suppressed. His volunteers were not allowed to speak in party forums while he himself spent his time in AAP discovering that it was an anarchist organisation with a manipulative leadership totally controlled by Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak. The party, he said, had been inducting people without clean image and internal resentment was growing over the way the affairs of the party were being managed. Meanwhile, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal youth leader Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra also joined the Congress in the presence of Patiala MLA Preneet Kaur in Patiala today. Welcoming Mr Pathanmajra into the party fold, Ms Kaur expressed confidence that the joining of the young Turk, with his strong base in Patiala district especially Sanour Assembly segment, the Congress would get a further boost in its election campaign in Patiala. His joining, she said, was a sign that not only the people of Punjab but also genuine Akali leaders and workers were feeling suffocated under the Badal misrule. "The way senior Akali leaders are deserting Akali Dal to join Congress is itself a vindication that only the Congress under leadership of Captain Amarinder can bring Punjab back on the path of progress,' she added. Expressing full faith in the leadership of Capt Singh, Mr Pathanmajra said he had joined the party unconditionally. Mr Pathanmajra, who was member of the Youth Akali Dal Core Committee before quitting the party in September last year, said Badals have been looting Punjab with both hands. "Only Captain Amarinder can bring back the hey days of Punjab,' he said, after his formal induction in Congress at Moti Bagh Palace. Along with Mr Pathanmajra, hundreds of his supporters also joined the Congress. Associated with Akali Dal for two decades before quitting the party, Pathanmajra was former Patiala Youth Akali Dal president and had also been chairman of the Bhunerheri Bock Samiti.

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