Jalandhar: The Aam Aadmi Party’s lone Member of Parliament Sushil Kumar Rinku has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Rinku was MP from the Jalandhar reserved constituency and a strong leader from Punjab’s Dalit-majority Doaba belt. He joined the BJP at New Delhi on March 27. The Lok Sabha elections for 13 seats of Punjab are scheduled for June 1.
Rinku’s move comes after the AAP has already declared him as its candidate from Jalandhar parliamentary seat. He is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket from the same seat. The seat has a 40% Dalit population, the highest in the country.
Jalandhar had so far been a ‘safe’ seat for AAP. It is learnt that the AAP leadership tried to persuade Rinku but that he finally switched over to the BJP.
Speculations give way to action
Rumours about Rinku joining the BJP had started doing the rounds in mid-March but he kept refusing them. At one point, he even shared photos from Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir to prove that he was not in Delhi to join the BJP and was rather was at Ayodhya to pay obeisance.
Rinku, it is said, was miffed with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP leadership, as most of the developmental projects that he wanted to start could not take off during his time as Jalandhar MP. Rumours were also rife that Rinku had been asking for funds from AAP to contest the Lok Sabha polls, which led to a difference of opinion among the party leadership.
On March 19, Mann had held a press conference in Jalandhar with Rinku to present a united face to the public.
While Rinku’s strong differences with the sitting AAP MLA from Jalandhar West seat – Sheetal Angural – was also an open secret, Angural also joined the BJP with Rinku on March 27.
This is the second major political shake-up in Punjab this month. The past fortnight saw prominent leaders switching over to the BJP. Earlier on March 26, Congress leader and sitting Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the saffron party. A week ago sitting Congress MLA Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal joined the AAP.
After joining the BJP, Rinku blamed the AAP Punjab leadership for neglecting developmental projects in his constituency in Jalandhar. The MP said that he joined the BJP for the sake of Punjab’s development.
On social media, many shared a photo in which he was seen protesting at the parliament during the Monsoon Session. Wearing a mustard yellow turban, Rinku had worn a chain around his chest as a mark of protest against the BJP and said, “This is not an MP in chains, it is a picture of India’s democracy chained by the dictatorial government of BJP.”
Rinku in chains at the parliament.
River, sea
Among the first ones to react against this development was Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, who without naming Rinku wrote a poem in Punjabi on X, which translates roughly to:
“The river might think that it was going to a big house but once merged in the sea, it gets finished. We are paying the price of keeping our heads high, those who are shameless can manage by stealing glances. We will proudly keep Punjab’s head high…”
ਆਪਣੇ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਤਾਂ ਦਰਿਆ ਵੱਡੇ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ
ਪਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ ਜਾਕੇ ਓਹ ਮਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ
ਗਰਦਨ ਸਿੱਧੀ ਰੱਖਣ ਦਾ ਮੁੱਲ ਤਾਰ ਰਹੇ ਹਾਂ
ਬੇਸ਼ਰਮਾਂ ਦਾ ਤਾਂ ਨੀਵੀਂ ਪਾ ਕੇ ਵੀ ਸਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ..
ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਗਰਦਨ ਮਾਣ ਨਾਲ ਹਮੇਸ਼ਾ ਉੱਚੀ ਰੱਖਾਂਗੇ..— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) March 27, 2024
In 2023, Rinku had sprung a surprise when he joined the AAP during the 2023 Lok Sabha by-polls. The by-poll was necessitated by the sudden demise of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary.
While the Congress banked upon Chaudhary’s legacy and fielded his wife Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, the AAP launched Rinku, who won the seat with a comfortable majority.
Rinku started his political innings as a Congress Councillor in 2006 from Jalandhar. He remained at the forefront in attacking the opposition and led several protests on his own, bringing him to the good books of Captain Amarinder Singh. Even within the Congress, he led what was called the ‘Dynamic Group’ of some other Congress Councillors who kept the opposition SAD-BJP on their toes.
Also read: Congress and AAP Seal Seat-Sharing Deal for Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, but to Go Solo in Punjab
Rinku had won the 2017 Punjab assembly election from Jalandhar West (reserved) constituency in his maiden attempt. However, he lost his seat in the 2022 assembly to AAP’s Sheetal Angural.
His wife is still a Congress Councillor from their home turf in Jalandhar West constituency.
Recently, a photo of Sushil Rinku along with former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi at a prominent Dalit dera at a village in Jalandhar had gone viral on social media. The names of both the leaders were being discussed prominently as the major contenders from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat.
Noted sociologist from Panjab University, Chandigarh professor Manjit Singh said that BJP’s wealth has led to the party managing the show of politics in India.
“Earlier the politicians had some vision and political identity. Now they know that they will be safe only if they will get shelter in the BJP,” Singh said.
