Former Punjab minister Anil Joshi joins Congress

Chandigarh, Oct 1 (PTI) Former Punjab minister Anil Joshi on Wednesday joined the Congress in the presence of the party's state in-charge and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Bhagel.

The joining came days after Joshi met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in Delhi.

Addressing the media here, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said Joshi, who has a “big name” in Punjab, has decided to join the Congress and “I welcome him into the party”.

Speaking on the occasion, Joshi thanked the Congress leadership for providing him a chance to serve the party. He said given the current circumstances, he is of the firm belief that only the Congress can lead Punjab on to the path of progress and development.

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, senior party leader Rana K P Singh, Lok Sabha MP Amar Singh, former MLA Vijay Inder Singla, former minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and others were present on the occasion.

Joshi, a former BJP leader, was expelled from the party after he criticised the Centre for "mishandling" the farmers’ agitation against the three now-repealed farm laws in 2021. Thereafter, he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Joshi was elected Amritsar North MLA in 2007 and 2012 on a BJP ticket.

He served as the local bodies, medical education and research minister in the SAD-BJP regime from 2012-2017.

Joshi unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar on a SAD ticket, before resigning from the Akali Dal last November.

In June, he rejoined the SAD in the presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal in Ludhiana. PTI CHS ARI