PTI
Chandigarh, January 15
Former Punjab minister Joginder Singh Mann on Saturday joined the Aam Aadmi Party, a day after breaking his 50-year-old ties with the Congress ahead of the assembly elections.
AAP leader and co-in-charge of Punjab Raghav Chadha said Mann’s joining would give a big boost to the party in the state.
“Inspired by Arvind ji’s vision, former Punjab cabinet minister and three-time MLA Joginder Singh Mann joined AAP, ending his 50-year-old association with Congress. He is currently the chairman of Punjab Agro Industries Corp. Were.
“His joining will give a big boost to the party’s unit in Punjab,” Chadha said in a tweet. He also posted a picture which shows Mann joining AAP in the presence of party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
A leader of the Scheduled Caste community, Mann was angry with the Congress over “no action” against the perpetrators of the alleged multi-crore post-matric SC scholarship scam and the denial of district status to Phagwara.
He resigned from the Congress and resigned as the chairman of Punjab Agro Industries Corporation.
In an emotional letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the three-time MLA from Phagwara, who served as a minister in cabinets including Beant Singh, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Amarinder Singh, said he had a dream that he would die as a Congressman.
He said, “But after matriculation, the Congress is giving protection to the culprits of the scholarship scheme, my conscience does not allow me to stay here.”
Voting for 117 assembly seats in Punjab will be held on February 14 and results will be declared on March 10.