Gian Singh Mann, the first cousin of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chandigarh on Monday.
The induction took place at the state BJP headquarters in Sector 37, Chandigarh, in the presence of Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar.
Gian Singh shares both maternal and paternal ties with the chief minister and belongs to their ancestral village of Satoj in Sangrur district.
The defection marks a complete reversal for Gian Singh, who was previously a supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a key figure in his cousin’s local political machinery.
During Bhagwant Mann’s tenure as the member of Parliament from Sangrur between 2014 and 2022, Gian Singh was an active presence on the ground, later playing a proactive role in the campaigning efforts that led to the AAP’s landslide victory in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections.
However, his shift to the BJP follows a period of strained ties with the chief minister during which he became a vocal critic of the AAP’s governance style and its delivery on poll promises.
By welcoming a member of the chief minister’s immediate family, the BJP aims to bolster its narrative of internal discontent within the AAP’s core bastions as Punjab heads for assembly elections early next year.
(With inputs by Muskan in Sangrur)
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