Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday took a swipe at former AAP MLA Harvinder Singh Phoolka after he joined the BJP, saying that any elected representative who abandons voters midway rarely succeeds in elections again.
Phoolka, a senior Supreme Court advocate widely known for representing victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in their fight for justice, formally joined the BJP earlier in the day.
Reacting to the development, Mann said he could only congratulate Phoolka. He recalled that Phoolka had earlier resigned as Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and later stepped down as MLA from the Dakha constituency, adding that Mann himself was serving as a Member of Parliament at that time.
Mann said when an elected representative leaves the mandate given by the people midway, it does not strengthen democracy. He added that he had rarely seen such leaders win elections again and wished Phoolka good luck while responding to media questions.
Phoolka’s entry into the BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections is being viewed as a boost for the party, which has been trying to strengthen its outreach among Sikh leaders in the state. The senior lawyer had joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 but resigned from the party five years later in 2019 following differences.
Addressing supporters in New Delhi on Wednesday, Phoolka described his decision to join AAP as a mistake. He said he had believed in 2014 that the party aimed to bring change amid public anger against corruption but later realised that the reality within the party was different.
During his association with AAP, Phoolka contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana but lost to Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, who has since joined the BJP and currently serves as a Union minister.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, Phoolka fought from the Dakha constituency on an AAP ticket and defeated Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali by a margin of more than 4,000 votes.
He briefly served as Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly before resigning from the post to focus on pursuing justice for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in courts.
Phoolka resigned as an MLA in October 2018, alleging that the then Congress government had failed to act against those responsible for the 2015 sacrilege incidents in Punjab.
On December 7, 2024, Phoolka had announced his intention to join the Shiromani Akali Dal after the Akal Takht constituted a committee to reorganise the party following the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as SAD president. However, he eventually did not join the party.
As a human rights lawyer, Phoolka became one of the most prominent legal voices seeking justice for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and remained closely associated with several landmark legal battles connected to the cases.
Originally from Bhadaur village in Barnala district, Phoolka has also advocated water conservation among farmers, raising concerns about the rapidly declining groundwater levels in Punjab.
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