Three AAP MLAs Join BJP Ahead of Punjab Assembly Polls, Dealing Setback to Bhagwant Mann

In a major political setback for the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, three sitting MLAs have switched to the BJP months ahead of the Assembly elections, raising questions over the party’s unity and electoral prospects.

Three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in Punjab joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, triggering fresh political uncertainty ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The legislators—Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra from Sanaur, Chetan Singh Jauramajra from Samana and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh from Amritsar North—joined the BJP at its headquarters in Delhi in the presence of Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon and the party’s Punjab in-charge, Satish Poonia.

According to sources, the BJP has assured the three leaders that they will be fielded from their respective constituencies in the next Assembly elections. The AAP, meanwhile, is unlikely to nominate them again.

Welcoming the legislators, Dhillon described the AAP as a “sinking ship” and indicated that more leaders could leave the party.

“We welcome all three who joined our party. AAP leaders are saying BJP is getting leftovers from other parties. They need to remember that Surjit Singh Rakhra in their party came from Akali Dal, Dimpy Dhillon and Harmeet Singh Sandhu, too. And Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Congress. Leaders keep going to different parties. It is a question mark on the party as to why MLAs are leaving despite the government in power with over 90 MLAs,” he said.

Dhillon added that the three leaders would receive “due respect” in the BJP.

While Jauramajra and Pathanmajra resigned from the AAP on Sunday, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh announced his resignation from the Assembly on Monday morning. Both Jauramajra and Pathanmajra had earlier indicated that they were in touch with the BJP.

Sandeep Pathak, a Rajya Sabha MP and senior AAP leader who joined the BJP in April, is believed to have played a key role in facilitating the defections.

Three exits, different political journeys

Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra has switched political parties several times. He was initially associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal before joining the AAP and later moving to the Congress. He returned to the AAP ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections and won the Sanaur constituency.

Chetan Singh Jauramajra entered electoral politics in 2022 and won the Samana Assembly seat in his first election.

The most prominent among the three defectors is Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who became one of the AAP’s recognisable faces ahead of the 2022 elections.

Aged 57, Singh joined the AAP after taking voluntary retirement from the IPS, where he had served as an Inspector General of Police-rank officer. His entry into politics attracted considerable attention because of his role in investigating the 2015 sacrilege and police firing incidents in Punjab.

Once regarded as one of the party’s prominent leaders, Singh’s relationship with the AAP leadership deteriorated over time.

In June 2025, the party suspended him for five years after he publicly criticised the arrest of senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a disproportionate assets case.

Singh had questioned the manner in which the Punjab Vigilance Bureau conducted a raid at Majithia’s residence in Amritsar. He shared a video of the operation and raised concerns about the dignity of the family.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh’s message before quitting

Announcing his resignation on Monday, Singh thanked the people of Amritsar for their support and said he would remain indebted to them for their affection and respect.

He claimed to have completed 90 per cent of the work expected of him as an MLA, identifying the end of what he called the ‘mai-baap culture’ in politics as his biggest achievement.

“I have treated people as my source of inspiration instead of looking up to political leaders,” he said.

Singh also listed several issues he had raised in the Punjab Assembly, claiming that he was the first MLA to highlight locality-specific problems by identifying individual streets and neighbourhoods.

Taking a dig at what he described as ‘ribbon-cutting politics’, he argued that Punjab needed to move beyond symbolic political activities and focus on larger challenges.

“Punjab needed to rise above these issues and unite to fight drugs, extortion, gangsterism and corruption,” he said.

Outlining his future political priorities, Singh said he wanted to work with people to develop a strategy for clean politics and transparent governance.

“My only objective is Punjab First. I have no personal interests apart from this,” he wrote.

A political setback for Bhagwant Mann

The departure of three sitting MLAs within two days comes as a setback for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP, which is preparing for a challenging electoral contest in a state it swept in 2022.

The political atmosphere in Punjab has become increasingly tense following the murder of an anti-drug activist and the death of another young man in a suspected drug overdose. These incidents have given opposition parties, including the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP, fresh opportunities to target the state government over law and order and the drug problem.

The defections also raise questions about internal dissatisfaction within the ruling party and its ability to maintain unity ahead of the elections.

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the AAP secured a sweeping victory, winning 92 of the 115 seats in the Punjab Assembly and forming the government with a commanding majority.

However, the exit of three sitting legislators, coupled with growing opposition attacks and reported tensions within the party, presents a new political challenge for Mann.

With all three former AAP legislators now joining the BJP, the political contest in Punjab is set to gain momentum as parties begin preparing for the next Assembly elections.