Ludhiana: Bhagwant Mann’s cousin Gyan Singh has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its Punjab unit announced on X.
It’s a personal jolt for the Punjab chief minister, as well as for the image of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). More so as Assembly election in the AAP-ruled state is due in nine months’ time, around February 2027.
Gyan Singh was inducted into the saffron party in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and BJP’s Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar.
Gyan Singh, son of the younger brother of Mann’s father, hails from Satauj village in Sangrur district.
The BJP camp was upbeat with its latest ‘acquisition’, saying that the party is growing stronger by the day in Punjab.
“The party’s state president, Sunil Jakhar, welcomed Gyan Singh to the BJP family and said that due to the BJP’s people-friendly policies and vision for development, people are joining the party in large numbers. The fact that trust is breaking even from within the Aam Aadmi Party’s own house shows that the people of Punjab have now grown weary of false promises and theatrical politics,” Punjab BJP said.
The development comes just over a fortnight after Raghav Chadha and six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs joined the BJP.
It led to a chorus of protest from AAP leaders, with Mann demanding the cancellation of Rajya Sabha membership of the seven MPs whom he labelled ‘defectors’ and ‘betrayers’ from Punjab.
