Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab polls: Week after joining BJP, Ladi back in Congress

AMRITSAR: A week after joining the BJP in Delhi, Sri Hargobindpur MLA Balwinder Singh Ladi returned to the Congress fold on Monday.Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi welcomed him back into the party at his official residence in Chandigarh in the presence of state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal.Speaking over phone, Ladi said: “Sri Hargobindpur is a rural constituency where mainly farmers and labourers live. They have not accepted the saffron party yet. They have spent days and nights on the roads even in harsh weather for over a year in protest against three farm laws.” “I tried to convince them that we would be able to bring major projects to the area from the Centre, but they were not ready to accept the BJP,” he said, adding that “considering their feelings, I decided to come back to the Congress”.On December 28, Ladi and Qadian Congress MLA Fateh Jung Bajwa joined the saffron party in the presence of Union Jal Shakti minister and the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in New Delhi ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.According to sources, the two leaders had joined the BJP since they were unlikely to be given the Congress ticket in the elections. The sources said Ladi had returned after getting assurance of the ticket from the constituency that is reserved for Scheduled Castes.Ladi is a confidant of Fateh Jung and conquered the traditional Panthic seat of Sri Hargobindpur in 2017 by defeating Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)’s Manjit Singh Manna Mianwind.

Hindustan Times

04-01-2022

Chandigarh