Akali Dal leader Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, several others, join BJP

Prominent Akali Dal leaders Sardar Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal and Sardar Jasjeet Singh Atwal, along with several others from Punjab, joined the Bharatiya Janta party (BJP) in New Delhi on Sunday. They were formally inducted into the saffron camp in the presence of senior BJP leaders at the party’s national headquarters in the Capital on Sunday. Further, according to sources in the BJP, AIADMK leader and former Rajya Sabha member, Dr Maitreyan, will also join the saffron party on Sunday. Earlier, on Saturday, CR Kesavan, the great-grandson of India’s first Indian Governor-General, C Rajagopalachari, joined the BJP. Kesavan resigned from Congress on February 23, saying that he has not even seen vestiges of the values that made him work for the party with dedication for over two decades. Kesavan shared his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Twitter saying he could no longer concur with “what the party symbolises, stands for or seeks to propagate”. His resignation came within a month of the desertion by former Union minister AK Antony’s son, Anil Antony, who parted ways with the party after coming out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the controversial BBC documentary series.