Three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators from Punjab joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Monday, dealing a political setback to the ruling party as the BJP seeks to expand its influence in the state.
Former Punjab cabinet minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, former Indian Police Service officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh and Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders.
Jouramajra represented Samana, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh was elected from Amritsar North, and Pathanmajra represented Sanaur in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
The three leaders criticized the AAP government’s handling of drug trafficking, organized crime, education and development, expressing confidence that the BJP could address Punjab’s challenges.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has accepted the resignations of Pathanmajra and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, declaring their seats vacant effective Monday.
Jouramajra has not yet resigned from the Assembly. He has been summoned for a hearing on November 5 following a complaint by AAP chief whip Baljinder Kaur seeking action under the anti-defection law.
The defections come as the BJP intensifies efforts to establish itself as a major political force in Punjab, where the Congress remains the principal opposition party.
Although the BJP failed to win a parliamentary seat in Punjab during the last Lok Sabha elections, it secured more than 18 per cent of the vote, its highest-ever share in the state.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon described the departures as evidence of growing dissatisfaction within AAP and claimed that the BJP was gaining political momentum.
Responding to criticism that his party was recruiting politicians from rival organizations, Dhillon accused AAP of employing similar tactics to strengthen its own ranks.
BJP Punjab affairs in-charge Satish Poonia said the party would focus its campaign on three major issues: drugs, corruption and crime.
He also outlined the BJP’s objective of making Punjab drug-free by December 31, 2029.
Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a former IPS officer, accused the AAP government of failing to deliver improvements in education, public safety and development.
He previously served on the Special Investigation Team investigating the Kotkapura police firing case. In April 2021, the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected the team’s report over concerns about its fairness and methodology, directing authorities to establish a new investigation team without him.
Kunwar Vijay subsequently retired from the police service and joined AAP ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.
However, relations between him and the party deteriorated after he repeatedly questioned the government’s handling of sacrilege investigations and other politically sensitive matters.
AAP suspended him in June 2025 following his public criticism of the administration.
Pathanmajra, who faces a rape case, said he had been in discussions with senior BJP leaders before formally joining the party.
He accused AAP of marginalizing representatives who raised concerns about Punjab’s problems and criticized the state government’s borrowing, claiming that it had accumulated nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore in debt during its tenure.
Pathanmajra, who has previously been associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress and Punjabi Ekta Party, said he wanted Punjab to move beyond its reputation for drug-related problems toward economic and social recovery.
Jouramajra also questioned the government’s claims about improvements in healthcare, alleging that approximately 3,000 rural dispensaries had been closed and replaced with 881 Aam Aadmi Clinics.
The political developments follow AAP’s announcement of its first list of 40 candidates on Saturday.
The defections also come amid reports of discussions between the BJP and the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal over a possible revival of their former political alliance.
With Punjab’s political parties preparing for future electoral contests, the departure of three AAP legislators could strengthen the BJP’s organizational presence while increasing pressure on the governing party over its record on public safety, healthcare and development.
