Sonu Sood's sister Malvika joins Congress with Sidhu & CM Channi; party to ditch Moga MLA?

Ahead of Punjab Assembly elections 2022, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood's sister Malvika Sood joined the Congress on Monday in presence of state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. This comes after her brother was seen with Sidhu at his residence. Both CM Channi and Sidhu are expected to hold a joint Press Conference later in the day. 

Even though the Soods hail from the city of Moga, and sister Malvika is also expected to contest from the seat, it is important to note that Moga already has a sitting MLA - Harjot Kamal Singh. Further, Sidhu also hinted at providing a ticket to Sonu Sood's sister while MLA Harjot Kamal Singh was missing from the scene of action on Monday.

Before joining the grand old party, she had reportedly held a series of negotiations with the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP)  which did not see the daylight later. A few days ago, the Election Commission of India (ECI) withdrew the appointment of Sonu Sood as state icon for Punjab. 

The Punjab Youth Congress, via their official Twitter handle, had also said that Sonu Sood had extended support to Congress: 

In November last year, Sonu Sood and his sister had addressed a press conference at Moga, which is their hometown, announcing that she would be contesting in the Punjab polls scheduled this year. Sood had also shared that his sister's commitment to social work was 'unparalleled.' As per reports, she was also involved in handling some of the activities of her brother's charity work, Sonu Sood Foundation in Moga during the COVID pandemic. 

Malvika had earlier met the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, which had already led to the speculations that she was set to join the Congress. 

Last year,  the Income-Tax raids on Sonu Sood had also become a political debate when both the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party had come out in support of the 47-year-old actor and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party. 

Punjab elections 2022

The Election Commission of India on Saturday announced the dates for the Punjab  Assembly elections 2022 which will be held in February to elect 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the state Legislative Assembly. In the last Assembly elections in 2017, the Indian National Congress bagged 77 out of 117 seats, leaving the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP alliance behind in the third place with 18 seats. AAP was second with 20 seats and became the official opposition in the state. Polling in Punjab is scheduled to be held on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.