Former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh joins BJP

New Delhi, Sep 19: Former chief minister and Punjab Lok Congress chief Amarinder Singh joined the BJP and merged Punjab Lok Congress with the BJP on Monday.

The 80-year-old veteran leader joined the saffron party in the presence of Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Kiren Rijiju, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar and BJP Punjab chief Ashwani Sharma.

After joining the party, Amarinder Singh said he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP president JP Nadda. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju hailed Amarinder Singh joining the party and said right-thinking people of the country should be united. "A sensitive state like Punjab should be handled carefully. During his tenure as CM, he never kept politics before national security," ANI quoted Rijiju as saying.

Singh also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda after merging his party with the BJP.

Singh had floated the PLC last year after quitting the Congress following his unceremonious exit as chief minister. The PLC contested the elections in alliance with the BJP and the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyuk). However, none of its candidates could register a win, with Singh himself losing from his home turf of Patiala Urban.

PLC spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal had said earlier that Singh will join the BJP in the presence of its senior leaders in Delhi on Monday.

The former Punjab chief minister recently returned from London following a spinal surgery, and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. After his meeting with Shah on September 12, Singh had said that he held a very productive discussion on various issues related to national security, rising cases of narco-terrorism in Punjab and the future roadmap for the state's overall holistic development. The two-time former chief minister is the scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family.