Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Charanjit Singh Atwal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday in presence of party chief JP Nadda at the latter’s home in New Delhi.

A former Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Charanjit Singh Atwal, 86, had quit the SAD recently and resigned from the party’s primary membership on April 19.

Notably, Charanjit Singh Atwal’s son Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, had also joined the BJP recently, and is contesting the May 10 by-poll for the Jalandhar constituency Lok Sabha seat on the saffron party’s ticket.

The Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat has been vacant since the demise of Congress MP Santokh Chaudhary who passed away due to a heart attack on January 14 while participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra along side Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

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Iqbal Singh Atwal will contest the Jalandhar seat against the deceased Congress MP’s wife Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, who was named by the grand-old party as its candidate for the May 10 bypolls.

Former Congress leader Sushil Rinku, who was kicked out of the party for “anti-party activities”, and later on April 5 joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, will contest on AAP’s ticket in the Jalandhar bypolls.

Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal along with several others from Punjab, had joined the BJP on Sunday in New Delhi in the presence of senior BJP leaders at the saffron party’s national headquarters.

Born on March 15, 1937, 86-year-old Charannjit Singh Atwal has served as the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly twice and also served as the deputy speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009.

Charanjit Atwal represented Punjab’s Phillaur constituency in the 14^th Lok Sabha as a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

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