Hoshiarpur/Chandigarh, November 2
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received a significant boost for the Chabbewal Assembly by-election, while dealing Congress a major setback. On Saturday, Kulwinder Singh Rasulpuri, the constituency in-charge for Congress in Chabbewal, and Gurpreet Singh, the grandson of former MLA Chaudhary Ram Charan, joined AAP.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, with Hoshiarpur MP Dr. Rajkumar Chabbewal, formally welcomed both leaders into the party.
Kulwinder Singh Rasulpuri had been associated with the Congress party for about 35 years. He was promised a ticket by the Congress party for the by-election after Dr. Rajkumar Chabbewal left the party, but Congress didn't fulfill its promise. Disappointed, he left the Congress to join the AAP. He served as the Vice President of the Punjab Congress Trading Cell and as Vice president of the District Congress Committee Hoshiarpur. He was also the president of the Sarpanch Union in the Mahilpur block for 20 years. Him joining AAP is a major blow to the Congress party.
Gurpreet Singh was running as an independent candidate in this by-election. He is an influential and respected figure in the area. His grandfather, Chaudhary Ram Ratan, served as an MLA from Chabbewal from 1962 to 1967.
On this occasion, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stated in a press release that the inclusion of both leaders will strengthen AAP not just in Chabbewal, but throughout Hoshiarpur. He asserted that they would work together for the development of Chabbewal and claimed they would win the election by a large margin.