Chandigarh, April 1 Taking a dig at former AAP MLA Harvinder Singh Phoolka after his entry into the BJP, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Wednesday that any elected person who leaves his voters in the middle can never win elections again.
Phoolka, who is also a senior Supreme Court advocate and best known for representing victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in their quest for justice, joined the BJP earlier in the day.
Reacting to the move, Mann said, "I can only congratulate him."
The chief minister said Phoolka resigned from the post of leader of the opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and then later as an MLA from the Dakha assembly constituency, adding that Mann was in Parliament at the time.
"If any elected person, who was elected by the people, leaves (them) in the middle, then it is not good for democracy. I have never seen such a person win (elections) again. Good luck to Phoolka saab," Mann said in response to a question about the development.
Phoolka's joining ahead of the 2027 assembly polls in the state comes as a boost for the BJP, amid its ongoing outreach to Sikh faces in the state.
The senior advocate joined AAP in 2014 and quit it five years later in 2019.
Addressing a gathering on Wednesday in the national capital, Phoolka termed his association with the AAP a "mistake".
"In 2014, I thought that party had come to change the country, given the anger against corruption. But after going inside, I realized things were different. It was a mistake to join them," he said, after joining the BJP.
During his time with the AAP, he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency. He, however, was defeated by Congress party's Ravneet Singh Bittu, who is also now in the BJP and a Union minister.
Phoolka contested the 2017 Punjab assembly polls from the Dakha seat as an AAP candidate and defeated Shiromani Akali Dal nominee Manpreet Singh Ayali by over 4,000 votes.
He remained in the post of leader of the opposition in the state assembly for a brief period, then resigned to be able to represent victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in courts.
He resigned as an MLA in October 2018, citing the then Congress government's alleged failure to take action against those involved in the 2015 sacrilege incidents.
Phoolka had announced on December 7, 2024, that he would join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, formed a panel to reorganize the regional party within six months – after accepting the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as the SAD president.
He had then said he would become a SAD member after its membership drive starts. However, he did not join the party.
As a human rights lawyer, Phoolka was best known for fighting cases pertaining to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was the most visible face as far as legal battles in anti-Sikh riot cases are concerned.
Hailing from the Bhadaur village in Barnala district in Punjab, Phoolka has also been an advocate for water-conservation practices by farmers in the wake of the depleting water table in the region.