In a big blow for Congress, MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal is likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party according to sources. He is likely to be fielded from Hoshiarpur parliamentary seat. He had contested the parliamentary elections from Hoshiarpur on a Congress ticket in 2019 but had lost to the BJP's Som Prakash. He is likely to join at Chandigarh in what is a big setback for the Congress.
After former MLA GP Singh from Bassi Pathana, he is the second Congress leader to join AAP. In what was a major blow to Congress as well, Patiala MP and Capt. Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur had also left Congress and was likely to join the BJP as per sources.
Chabbewal is a Dalit leader and the big vote is in his favor according to political experts. In 2015, Congress appointed him the Chairman of Punjab Scheduled Castes Commission. Apart from this, he is also an AICC member.
About 10 days ago, during the budget session on March 5, Dr. Raj Kumar had reached the Assembly carrying the loan package of the AAP government. He had said that he has come to relieve the burden of debt from the Punjab government. The government had promised to reduce debt, but debt had increased. It is also important to note that recently there had been reports of an alliance between AAP and Congress.