NEW DELHI: Three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders from Punjab, including two rebel MLAs and a suspended legislator, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, days after breaking ties with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. The development comes ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections and has triggered a political exchange between the BJP and the ruling AAP.The three leaders are Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. While Pathanmajra and Jouramajra resigned from the AAP’s primary membership on Sunday, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who was suspended from the party, resigned as an MLA on Monday.1. Harmeet Singh PathanmajraPathanmajra represents the Sanour Assembly constituency in Patiala district. He was among the two AAP MLAs who announced their exit from the party on Sunday, accusing the Bhagwant Mann-led government of failing to address issues such as the drug menace, rising state debt and governance-related concerns.His resignation came shortly after the AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. Sanour was not among the constituencies for which candidates were announced.2. Chetan Singh JouramajraJouramajra is the MLA from Samana in Patiala district and a former Punjab cabinet minister. He served in the Bhagwant Mann government from January 2023 to September 2024 before being dropped during a cabinet reshuffle.Like Pathanmajra, Jouramajra resigned from the AAP’s primary membership on Sunday. He also accused the state government of failing to address key issues facing Punjab. Samana was not included in the AAP’s first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Assembly polls.The AAP had suspended both Pathanmajra and Jouramajra before they announced their resignations. The party also said it would approach the Punjab Assembly Speaker seeking cancellation of their legislative membership, alleging anti-party activities.3. Kunwar Vijay Pratap SinghKunwar Vijay Pratap Singh is the MLA from Amritsar North and a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. He was suspended from the AAP for five years in June 2025 over alleged anti-party activities.His suspension followed his criticism of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau’s action against Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia. Singh had also repeatedly questioned the Mann government’s handling of the sacrilege cases.
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A former member of the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) that probed the 2015 Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police-firing incidents, Singh resigned from the Punjab Assembly on Monday. He submitted his resignation to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and announced the decision in a Facebook post.AAP hits out at BJPThe BJP’s induction of the three leaders drew criticism from the ruling AAP in Punjab. State AAP president Aman Arora accused the BJP of attempting to induct leaders who had left or been expelled from other parties.AAP chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal also described the BJP as a “kabaad di dukaan” (scrap shop), accusing it of collecting rejected political faces.
