In a massive blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jalandhar West MP Sushil Rinku and MLA Sheetal Angrual on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Before joining the BJP, both Sushil Rinku and Sheetal Angural met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. As per sources in the known development, Union Minister Som Parkash and BJP's Parliamentary Board member Iqbal Singh Lalpura are the two major persons who helped the saffron party in bolstering its footprint in Punjab ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Sushil Rinku became Jalandhar West MP after he was fielded by AAP during the 2023 Jalandhar By-election. Apart from Rinku, AAP MLA from Jalandhar West Sheetal Angrual joined the BJP in the same event. Interestingly, Sheetal Angural won the 2022 Punjab assembly elections from Jalandhar West constituency by defeating Sushil Rinku by 4253 votes. During that time, Sushil Rinku was part of the Indian National Congress. Interestingly, a few days back, Angural went live on social media and denied reports of him joining the BJP saying that his loyalties lie with the Aam Aadmi Party.
With the inclusion of two big leaders of Punjab i.e. Rinku & Angrual, the BJP has bolstered its footprints in the state. This may help PM Modi's clarion call of 'Abki Baar 400 Paar'. For the unversed, BJP-led NDA is eyeing to win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Notably, the BJP is yet to release the list of candidates who will be fielded from Punjab to fight the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. On Tuesday, BJP Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar announced that the saffron party will fight the general Elections 2024 solo in Punjab. The announcement by Jakhar came after alliance talks between the BJP and SAD failed to reach to a consensus over the conflict of Principles.
Who is Sushil Rinku?
Sushil Rinku is a former Congress MLA. He was an active member of NSUI in 1990. In 1992, during a by-cot of elections by Akali Dal Sushil Kumar Rinku prepared youth for elections & worked as booth level worker. It was in the year 1994 that Sushil Kumar Rinku was elected as President of Shri Guru Ravidas's cultural Society at D.A.V College Jalandhar. Sushil Kumar Rinku has worked as booth level worker for Youth Congress.
Sushil Kumar Rinku in 2002, worked as a level worker for Lok Sabha Elections. In 2006, he was elected as Municipal Councilor and won by 2500 votes.
Talking about Sushil Kumar Rinku’s family background, his family served the Indian National Congress for around 45 years. His uncle and father served in almost every assembly and parliament election. During the emergency in 1977, his entire family was imprisoned for supporting the Indian National Congress.