Delhi: Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu joins BJP ahead of LS polls

New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): In a major setback to Congress, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party headquarters in Delhi on Tuesday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Ravneet Singh Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and the son of former Punjab minister Tej Parkash Singh.

Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asserted that PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah always 'responded positively' when he raised Punjab's issues.
"I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi. I can say with confidence that PM Modi and Union Home Minister share a lot of love for Punjab and they wish to do a lot for the state," he said.
"The Prime Minister and the Home Minister always took it positively whenever I raised the issues of Punjab. We want to take Punjab forward. When the country is benefiting, why should Punjab be left behind?," Ravneet Singh Bittu said.

Bittu called on BJP chief JP Nadda after joining the party earlier in the day.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Bittu defeated Simarjeet Singh Bains from the Lok Insaaf Party by 76,372 votes. In 2014, he defeated the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Harvinder Singh Phoolka with a margin of 19,709 votes.
The BJP earlier this week announced its decision to contest the election in Punjab on its own after it severed ties with its long-time ally, Shiromani Akali Dal. (ANI)