Former AAP MLA Jagbir Singh Brar Joins BJP In Punjab: 'Influenced By PM Modi's Policies'

Former Jalandhar Cantt MLA Jagbir Singh Brar joined the BJP on Tuesday. Brar had joined the AAP in 2023 after leaving the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Jagbir Singh Brar is an ex-MLA from Punjab's Jalandhar Cantt Constituency.

Source : X/@PTI_News

Former Jalandhar Cantt MLA Jagbir Singh Brar, who was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at its headquarters in Delhi on Tuesday. Speaking to PTI, Brar said he joined the BJP as he was “influenced by the policies” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Various senior leaders of the BJP, including the party’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh, were also present for Brar's induction.

Jagbir Singh Brar had earlier left the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to join the AAP in March 2023. He reportedly left the AAP over resentment stemming from the party's decision to hand Rajwinder Kaur Thiara the charge of the Jalandhar Cantt area, which he represented.

Brar said Punjab will continue to develop if the BJP and Modi’s blessings remain with it. “I want that BJP's blessings remain with Punjab, PM's blessings remain with Punjab and the state continues to develop," he told PTI. 

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Here's what former AAP leader Jagbir Singh Brar, who joined BJP earlier today, said on him switching sides.

"I am influenced by the politics of Modi ji. I want that BJP's blessings remain with Punjab, PM's blessings remain with Punjab and the… pic.twitter.com/6GfSm7qX6h

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 21, 2024

Addressing the event in Punjabi, Chugh said there is “suffocation in Punjab because of AAP”. He added, “Brar saheb is impressed by the PM's thinking towards the poor. Be it celebrating Guru Purab with great pomp or building a cancer institute in Punjab, Jagbir Singh ji is joining the BJP today considering all those aspects.”

Jagbir Singh Brar is a significant leader from Punjab. As a member of the SAD, he secured the Jalandhar Cantt Assembly constituency in the 2007 Punjab election. He subsequently joined the Congress, where he served as president of its Jalandhar district committee. In 2019, Punjab's then Congress government appointed him the chairman of the Punjab Water Resources Management and Development Corporation. He subsequently quit the Congress to return to the SAD before joining the AAP again.

Before he entered politics, he served as a block development panchayat officer.