Amarinder Singh congratulates top Cong leaders on joining BJP, calls it 'tip of iceberg'

Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday congratulated senior Congress leaders for joining the BJP and called the move a "tip of the iceberg." Five Congress leaders including former ministers Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sunder Sham Arora, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, and Kewal Dhillon joined the BJP on Saturday, following in the footsteps of former Congress veteran Sunil Jakhar, who jumped the ship last month.

"My best wishes to Balbir S. Sidhu, Gurpreet S. Kangar, Dr. Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora, and Kewal Singh Dhillon for taking a step in the right direction and joining BJP today. This is just the tip of the iceberg," tweeted Captain Amarinder Singh, hinting at more possible exits from the Congress.

In the recently-held Punjab elections, Congress was voted out of power by Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which swept the assembly polls. Captain Amarinder Singh, a former Congress strongman, left the party and formed his own outfit months before the elections. He held the Gandhis responsible for the rout of the Congress in the assembly polls. 

Captain also slammed the Congress Working Committee for blaming him for the party's defeat instead of "gracefully admitting" their "own blunders"

Congress loses top Punjab leaders to BJP

Along with the former ministers, Congress leaders Kamaljeet S Dhillon and sitting mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu also joined the saffron party. This development is a massive jolt for Congress as all of the new inductees are grassroots leaders with a strong relationship with the party workers. 

Balbir Sidhu, a three-time MLA from Mohali, was the Health Minister in the previous Congress government while Gurpreet Kangar, who is also a three-time MLA from Rampura Phul, was the Revenue Minister. Both Sidhu and Kangar are prominent Jat-Sikh leaders.

Raj Kumar Verka, a prominent Dalit face from Majha, is a three-time legislator and was the Minister for Social Justice, Empowerment & Minorities in the previous government. Sunder Sham Arora, a former MLA from Hoshiarpur, was the Industry and Commerce Minister in the previous Congress government. He was also the working president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. 

All four leaders had lost the 2022 state assembly elections.