Jalandhar: Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Anil Joshi, who was expelled from the party for supporting farmers, along with other saffron party leaders is going to join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Chandigarh on August 20.
SAD party president Sukhbir Singh Badal would join Joshi in the party along with Former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha state chief Mohit Gupta, who hails from Bathinda, a former ex-MLA from Hoshiarpur district, a former Ludhiana deputy mayor and a party leader who contested the previous assembly polls from Ludhiana district are among others likely to switch over to SAD, a senior Akali familiar with the development said.
“We found only SAD can serve the interests of all Punjabis and we have already worked with them closely,” said Joshi, confirming his joining schedule.
The BJP in July had expelled Joshi for six years after he opprobrium state and the central leadership for mishandling the farm agitation.
Interestingly, Joshi’s relationship with the SAD was not so cordial when he was local bodies minister during the Parkash Singh Badal-led previous government in Punjab as he had compared then SAD-led government’s rule with Aurangzeb’s rule after his brother was attacked allegedly by Akali workers in Tarn Taran in 2015.