PNS/
 
Ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha bypoll in Jalandhar constituency, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) former MLA Jagbir Singh Brar on Sunday joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday — his fifth shift within Punjab’s political parties.
 
Brar, who joined AAP in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has been a prominent leader in Jalandhar.
 
He was first elected MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment seat in 2007 as Akali Dal candidate. Later, when former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal parted ways with SAD and floated his People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), Brar was the among the first one to join him. Brar is also closely related to Manpreet Badal.
 
Switching loyalties to the Congress was his third shift. Contesting 2012 assembly polls as Congress candidate from Jalandhar Cantonment, Brar lost to SAD’s Pargat Singh. Ahead of 2022 state assembly polls, Brar quit the Congress and returned to the Shiromani Akali Dal to once again face defeat from Pargat Singh, who, this time, contested on Congress ticket from Jalandhar Cantonment seat.
 
“His joining the AAP has strengthened the party in the upcoming bypoll,” said AAP general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat. “Aam Aadmi Party got a big boost when former MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment and 2022 candidate Jagbir Singh Brar bid farewell to Akali Dal along with his colleagues and joined AAP in presence of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Bhagwant Mann,” he tweeted.
 
Brar has joined in the run-up to Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll necessitated following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary (76) in January during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
 
Even though the date for the bypoll is yet to be announced, it will be a litmus test for the ruling AAP which had last year lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll after coming to power in Punjab.
 
On Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal paid obeisance at Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar and sought blessings from Dera Sachkhand Ballan chief Sant Niranjan Dass.
 
They also laid the foundation stone of the Guru Ravidas Bani Adhiyan centre at Ballan and handed over the cheque for first instalment of Rs 25 crore to Dera Sachkhand Ballan chief Sant Niranjan Dass to start work on the project.