Ahead of Punjab polls, former Congress MP, others join Amarinder Singh's party

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], December 14 (ANI): One former Congress MP and three ex Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLAs were among those who joined Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress in Chandigarh on Tuesday.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh welcomed them to the party.
"Happy to welcome many prominent Punjabis into the Punjab Lok Congress fold today," tweeted Captain Amarinder Singh today.
Those who joined the party today included former MP Amrik Singh Aliwal, ex-legislators Harjinder Singh Thekedar, Prem Mittal, Farzana Alam and Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike, ex-district Congress presidents Jagmohan Sharma and Satvir Singh Palli Jhikki.
Vijay Kalra, president Punjab Arthiya Association and Senior Vice Chairman Punjab Mandi Board also joined the party.
Others who joined today, include Sammukh Singh Mokha, Anup Singh Bhullar, Sanjeev Bittu, Mayor, Ashwani Kumar son of Rumal Chand ex-MLA, Nitin Sharma Batala and Independent MLA Rajdeep Kaur from Fazilka.
Captain Amarinder Singh, who recently floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress, on Sunday said that decision to form an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's party has been taken in principle and seat adjustment will be announced soon.
Elections to 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held next year.
In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats. (ANI)