In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the general elections, its lone Lok Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Rinku and Punjab MLA Sheetal Angural joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
Rinku, who represents Jalandhar in the lower house, switched sides despite being announced as the AAP candidate from the same seat.
Reports said he is now likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
"I have taken this decision for the development of Jalandhar. We will take Jalandhar forward. We will bring all the projects of the central government to Jalandhar," Rinku said after joining the BJP.
A former Congress MLA, Rinku had switched to the AAP on April 27, 2023, and a day later, was declared the AAP candidate from the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.
Angural, an MLA from Jalandhar West, has put out a statement, saying he has resigned from all the responsibilities he had in the AAP.
Welcoming the duo to the BJP, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the BJP is the largest political party in the world and people from different walks of life are joining it.
"BJP is the largest political party in the world. People from different walks of life are joining our family. I welcome Sushil Kumar Rinku and Sheetal Angural to the party. The situation is changing in Punjab and we all will work together to make India developed by 2047," Puri said.
On Tuesday, the Congress MP from Ludhiana, Ravneet Bittu, joined the BJP. Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
