Jagir Kaur, Preneet Kaur & Raj Kumar Chabbewal Hop Parties

With Indian General Elections announced, party hopping starts in Panjab. Former SGPC chief Jagir Kaur rejoined the SAD on 14 Mar, nearly 15 months after she was expelled for alleged ‘anti-party’ activities. The development came days after Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa merged his SAD (Sanyukt) with the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 11, Story 6). Badal and other senior leaders visited Begowal in Kapurthala district to re-induct Kaur into the party. In Patiala, the BJP has inducted Preneet Kaur, suspended INC Member of Parliament and wife of former Panjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, into the party. Preneet Kaur is the current MP from Patiala and is likely to contest from the seat on a BJP ticket this time. After stepping down as the chief minister in 2021, Amarinder Singh formed the Panjab Lok Congress and then merged it with the BJP the following year. Preneet Kaur was suspended from the INC in February last year for ‘anti-party’ activities. While joining the BJP on 14 Mar in the presence of the party's Panjab chief Sunil Jakhar, Preneet Kaur praised PM Narendra Modi and his contribution to the country's development. On 15 Mar, prominent Dalit leader Raj Kumar Chabbewal quit the INC and joined the ruling AAP. Chabbewal was legislator from Chabbewal assembly constituency in Hoshiarpur district. He was also the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Panjab Assembly. He was welcomed into the party by CM Bhagwant Mann and is likely to get a ticket to contest the general elections. AAP has already nominated five sitting ministers as candidates for the election.