Former Punjab Assembly Speaker and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Charanjit Singh Atwal on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of party president JP Nadda on Friday.
Atwal, whose son Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal is the BJP candidate for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll, was a former Lok Sabha deputy speaker as well as Punjab assembly speaker twice. The by-poll was necessitated by the passing away of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary last year. Atwal had resigned from the SAD last month.
Also Read | New government office timing comes into effect, Punjab CM Mann says move to bring many benefits
The by-poll, which will be held on May 10, is the first time the BJP will contest alone in the border state. Other candidates include Chaudhary's wife from the Congress, former Congress MLA Sushil Rinku from AAP, and SAD's Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi.