Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh joins BJP, merges his newly launched party

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on September 19, 2022, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hours after meeting with party chief JP Nadda.

Capt Singh has also merged his Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) with the BJP just a few months after the formation of the party.

The 80-year-old politician launched the PLC in 2021 after quitting Congress following his exit as chief minister of Punjab.

Despite contesting the election in 2022 with BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyuk), the PLC did not win a single seat.

Capt Singh apart from being one of the most influential political leaders in Punjab was elected twice as the chief minister of state.

The former Congress veteran, left the grand old party in the November of last year, following his prolonged dispute with the state party's then-leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The politician had recently met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and at that time there were rumours that he was likely to receive a major position in the BJP after joining it.