Captain Amarinder to merge Punjab Lok Congress with BJP? Big meeting with Amit Shah today

A week after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday, as per sources. Republic TV has learnt that Amarinder might discuss the merger of his newly-formed Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) with the BJP and regarding possible future seat-sharing. BJP national president JP Nadda is also likely to be present in the meeting that will be held in the National Capital today. This comes against the backdrop of preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. 

Amarinder Singh had served as Punjab's Chief Minister for over nine years including 2002–2007 and then 2017-2021. In September last year, he had unceremoniously resigned from the Congress and later floated his PLC and then constituted an alliance with the BJP that had SAD (Sanyukt) as its ally. The alliance, however, didn't fare well in the polls as the AAP stormed to power.

Amarinder Singh quits Congress, floats his own party

Amid the infighting between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, the situation escalated after Congress summoned a Legislative Party meeting on September 18, 2021, without keeping the Punjab CM in the loop. In the midst of growing speculation that Singh would be ousted, the latter tendered his resignation to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on the same day owing to "humiliation", issuing a number of statements and speaking to Republic about how he had been undermined despite having steered the Congress party through several unlikely comebacks in Punjab. In November 2021, Captain announced his own party Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) which was approved by the Election Commission of India. 

(Image: Twitter_@ANI)