Chandigarh, Apr 1 (PTI) Taking a dig at former AAP MLA Harvinder Singh Phoolka after his entry into the BJP, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said any elected person who left his voters midway can never win elections again.
Phoolka, who is also a senior Supreme Court advocate and best known for representing 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims in their quest for justice, joined the BJP earlier in the day.
Reacting to the move, Mann said, “I can only congratulate him.” The chief minister said Phoolka resigned from the leader of opposition post in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and then later as an MLA from the Dakha assembly constituency, adding that Mann was in Parliament then.
“If any elected person, who was elected by people, leaves (them) midway, then it is not good for democracy. I never saw any such person winning (elections) again. Good luck to Phoolka saab,” Mann said while replying to a question on the development.
Phoolka’s joining ahead of the 2027 assembly polls in the state comes as a boost for the BJP, amid its ongoing outreach to Sikh faces in the state.
The senior advocate joined AAP in 2014 and quit it five years later in 2019.
Addressing a gathering on Wednesday in the national capital, Phoolka termed his association with the AAP a “mistake”.
“In 2014, I thought that party had come to change the country, given the anger against corruption. But after going inside, I realised things were different. It was a mistake to join them,” he said, after he joined the BJP.
During his time with the AAP, he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency. He, however, was defeated by Congress party’s Ravneet Singh Bittu, who is also now in the BJP and a Union minister.
Phoolka contested the 2017 Punjab assembly polls from the Dakha seat as an AAP candidate and defeated Shiromani Akali Dal nominee Manpreet Singh Ayali by over 4,000 votes.
He remained in the leader of opposition post in the state assembly for a brief period, then resigned to be able to represent victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in courts.
He resigned as an MLA in October 2018, citing the then Congress government’s alleged failure to take action against those involved in the 2015 sacrilege incidents.
Phoolka on December 7, 2024 had announced that he will join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, formed a panel to reorganise the regional party within six months — after accepting the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as the SAD president.
He had then said he would become a SAD member after its membership drive starts. He, however, did not join the party.
As a human rights lawyer, Phoolka was best known for fighting cases pertaining to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was the most visible face as far as legal battles in anti-Sikh riot cases are concerned.
Hailing from the Bhadaur village in Barnala district in Punjab, Phoolka has also been an advocate water-conservation practices by farmers in the wake of depleting water table in the region. PTI CHS PRK
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