5 days after joining AAP, Surinder Chaudhary back in Congress fold

Five days after joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of chief minister Bhagwant Mann, former Congress MLA Surinder Singh Chaudhary returned to the grand old party on Saturday.

A member of the Chaudhary clan, Surinder Chaudhary, son of five-time MLA Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, joined AAP in the ruling party’s maiden rally in the Kartarpur assembly segment on April 10.

Ahead of the May 10 Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, Surinder’s exodus had come as an embarrassment for the Congress, especially after former MLA Sushil Kumar Rinku switching to AAP.

“Senior Congress leaders were in regular touch with Surinder post his exit. On Saturday, former deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and former cabinet minister OP Soni held a series of meetings with Surinder and other family members of the Chaudhary clan, including Phillaur MLA and his cousin Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary following which the announcement of re-joining was made,” said a senior Congress leader.

Surinder is the nephew of Congress MP late Santokh Singh Chaudhary, whose death during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 14 has necessitated the byelection. Surinder remained MLA from the Kartarpur constituency from 2017-2022. He lost to AAP’s Balkar Singh in 2022 by 4,754 votes.

His aunt Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary is the Congress bypoll nominee. Leader of Opposition in assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said, “He (Surinder) told us that he had some grievances with the party and the family due to which he left us.”

AAP state general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat, who is coordinating the new joinings in poll-bound Jalandhar, said, “I had no role in Surinder joining AAP. The discussion related to his induction was held at CM’s level.”