Former MP Jagmeet Brar on Friday joined hands with his foes after his “own” spurned him — at least this is what a series of WhatsApp messages released by the Punjab Congress appeared to indicate.

The Congress virtually eclipsed Shiromani Akali Dal’s “feat” of a former Congress stalwart joining the party by releasing Brar’s messages sent to Capt Amarinder Singh seeking an audience with the “maharaja”.

The release of series of messages coincided with Jagmeet’s “unconditional” induction in the Akali Dal at Sri Muktsar Sahib in a function attended by the former Chief Minister and Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, SAD president Sukhbir Badal, and Union Minister Harsimrat Badal.

Akali Dal, which is currently passing through its worst-ever political crisis, is going ga-ga over Brar’s joining only to be left embarrassed by the Congress party releasing the “screenshots” of his messages to “Maharaja Sahib” making frantic attempts to re-join the party while also promising “to fix the Badals”.

Brar, who has been in the political oblivion since long, neither denied nor accepted sending these messages, but just preferred to smile while maintaining stoic silence when the media questioned him after he joined SAD.

In fact, Sukhbir too brushed aside Brar’s WhatsApp message, saying “There is nothing like that”.

Sukhbir, who tasted defeat in his first Lok Sabha elections against the then Congress leader Jagmeet Brar from Faridkot in 1999, pinned the party’s “proud to be Akali’ badge on Brar’s kurta. Brar was elected twice to the Lok Sabha in 1992 and 1999.

Amidst speculations that Akali Dal may field Brar from Ferozepur, Sukhbir maintained that the party may soon make the announcement of its remaining two candidates. SAD has, so far, announced the names of its eight candidates out of total 10 seats in contests in alliance with the BJP, which is yet to declare all its candidates for its share of three seats.

Besides Ferozepur, SAD is yet to declare its candidates for Bathinda from where it is expected to field the sitting MP and the Union Minister Harsimrat Badal.

Once an ardent adversary of the Badals, Brar showered praises on the Badals, and Bikram Majithia. “I remained in the Congress for 37 years but they expelled me when I asked them to introspect...I have joined the Akali Dal unconditionally, and I would be happy with any role assigned to me by the SAD,” he said.

Brar, who joined SAD along with his brother Ripjit Singh Brar, said that the Congress has already lost both seats of Bathinda and Ferozepur as the national party is still awaiting the SAD to first announce its candidates, whereas the SAD-BJP leaders, workers are already holding meetings, and campaigning in these two constituencies also.

The duo described their decision as “returning to the roots” and a homecoming. “I have always been emotionally and ideologically much closer to the panthic and pro-Punjab agenda and conduct of the SAD than to the Congress or any other outfit in the country,” said Brar.

Describing Brar as a panthic leader, the senior Badal appreciated him for his “vast political experience” while asking his son Sukhbir to follow his suggestions. “It is a historic day for the party today as Punjab’s well known personality, speaker and the most experienced politician Jagmeet Brar joins Akali Dal,” he said.

Badal termed both Jagmeet and his brother Ripjit Brar as “Ram-Laxman di Jodi”, saying, “Our Pash-Das di jodi has broken, but you brothers are still together”.

Terming Brar’s joining as “ghar vapsi”, Bathinda MP Harsimrat said that when Sukhbir contested his first election against Jagmeet, not just the party workers but she too feared him.

A permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) for 10 years, Brar was expelled from the Congress in 2016 after he asked the party high command, comprising the then president Sonia Gandhi and her vice-president son Rahul Gandhi to go on sabbatical to introspect on the party’s resounding defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

He had later joined the Trinamool Congress and headed the party’s Punjab unit until the previous year when he finally called it quits. Since then, he remained out of Punjab’s political scene.

BRAR THREW HIMSELF AT BADALS’ FEET AFTER OFFERING TO ‘FIX’ THEM: CAPT TAKE

A DIG AT BRAR

Taking a dig at the Brar’s joining the SAD, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that it was former MP’s “opportunistic”, “last-ditch resort” to rescue his political career after failing to wriggle his way back into the Congress.

Citing a series of WhatsApp messages received from Brar over the last several weeks, Capt Amarinder said that the former MP was apparently desperate to get back into politics and had decided to go with the Badals, whom he promised “to fix in Punjab” if the Congress agreed to take him back.

“It is obvious that Brar has a political agenda to further and is ready to do it by hook or by crook. For the last several weeks, he had been trying unabashedly to get into the Congress. But with the party high command refusing to intervene and I myself not responding to any of Brar’s desperate messages, he decided to throw his weight behind the SAD,” said Capt Amarinder.

He said that Brar had decided to throw himself at the feet of the very Badals whom he was promising “to fix” after his (the Chief Minister’s) persistent refusal to acknowledge and respond to the former MP’s desperate messages.

“Congress is better off without such opportunistic and self-seeking individuals,” he said quipping sarcastically that he hoped Brar would be more loyal to the Badals than he had been to the party that had been instrumental in making his political career.

Also taking a dig at the Badals for embracing Brar out of sheer frustration in the face of their imminent defeat in May 19 Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, Capt Amarinder said that they (the Badals) must be equally desperate to take in a carpetbagger like Brar.

“It is laughable that Brar had joined SAD just 10 days after seeking forgiveness for his acts and promising to give his ‘remaining years’ to ‘Maharaja of Patiala’ and to ‘fix the Badals in Punjab’,” Capt Amarinder mocked Brar.

Brar wrote to Capt Amarinder on April 9 (sic): “Respected Maharaja Sahib, Forgive me my sins. Sir Dr Md Iqbal says, “Gunagaar hoon, Kafir nahin hoon mein. I will always stand behind you and give me remaining years to Maharaja of Patiala. Let Navjot embark on the India election campaign, rhetoric and silly. Keep me by your side. I will fix Badal’s in Punjab. Yours devotedly.”

The apology and offer were part of a series of messages to the Chief Minister — from seeking appointment on March 22, 2019, to offering unconditional joining on March 31, to sending a note.

Brar even offered to contest from Bathinda in case “at the last moment due to political compulsions, the high command fails to find a suitable turbaned Jat Sikh candidate”, while requesting Capt Amarinder to recommend his case.