Punjab: Former Hoshiarpur MLA Sunder Sham Arora quits BJP, back in Congress

Former Punjab minister Sunder Sham Arora, who had joined the BJP two years ago, is back in the Congress. He announced his joining on Wednesday by posting his pictures with Punjab Congress in-charge Devender Yadav.

A two-time MLA from Hoshiarpur, Arora was the industries and commerce minister in the Captain Amarinder Singh government. He faced corruption charges in the industrial plot transfer scam and was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau when he allegedly tried to bribe an assistant inspector general of the agency. He was later granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court.

Speculation of his returning to the Congress fold gained ground when senior party leaders Partap Singh Bajwa and Charanjit Singh Channi called on him at his residence recently.

Arora had maintained his ties with the Congress leadership even after leaving the party and appeared on BJP stages only in the presence of his mentor Sunil Jakhar. His absence from the election rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections in Hoshiarpur pointed to his distance from the saffron party.

The Congress on its part was also trying to bring him back as the party was suffering a leadership crisis, particularly after Chabbewal MLA Raj Kumar ditched it to join the Aam Aadmi Party. Raj Kumar is now an MP.

Arora said he regretted his decision to join the BJP and wished to seek an apology from the people of Punjab. “I was under the impression that the BJP would do some good to Punjab but I was mistaken. Only the Congress can run the state efficiently,” he said, adding that he had no issue with any BJP leader.

“I will work to strengthen the party under the visionary leadership of Rahul Gandhi ji,” he added.