CHANDIGARH: Rajdeep Kaur, the sister of slain gangster Jaswinder Singh Rocky, on Tuesday joined the Congress after leaving the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which she had joined a year ago.
Rocky, who faced twenty cases but had been acquitted in eighteen, was shot dead in Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh in 2016. He had hobnobbed with all political parties and in the 2012 assembly elections, he stood as an independent candidate from Fazilka. He managed to get 39,000 votes but lost to Surjit Kumar Jyani of BJP by 1,600 votes.
Rajdeep joined the Congress along with a large number of supporters. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh welcomed her into the Congress fold. Rajdeep had contested the 2017 assembly polls from Fazilka as an independent candidate, polling over 38,000 votes. Rajdeep’s mother, Harmander Kaur, also joined the Congress.
With more and more leaders and workers from other parties deciding to put their weight behind the Congress, the party was clearly dominating the Lok Sabha poll scene, said Amarinder adding that he was
happy to have Rajdeep join the Punjab Congress’ efforts to clean the state of the destructive and divisive Akali forces.
If such was the extent of disillusionment in Sukhbir Badal’s own constituency, one could gauge which way the wind was blowing across the state, Amarinder said, asserting that the SAD president would be
ignominiously voted out by the people of Ferozepur.
Rajdeep thanked the Chief Minister for giving her the opportunity to serve the people. She criticised Sukhbir Badal's autocratic and highhanded style of functioning and said many others like her, who were feeling disenchanted and suffocated in the SAD, wanted to join the Congress, which stands for democracy and inclusive progress.