Suspended AAP leader Harinder Singh Khalsa joins BJP

Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Harinder Singh Khalsa formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Thursday.

Khalsa joined the party in the presence of Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Hardeep Singh Puri.

Khalsa, who belongs to the SC community, had won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Fatehgarh Sahib seat on AAP's ticket. However, he was suspended from the party in 2015.

Before joining AAP in 2014, Khalsa was a part of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Heaping praises on Khalsa for his contribution to the society, Jaitley said that Khalsa's father Gopal Singh Khalsa was long associated with Dalit icon BR Ambedkar.

"He has played a key role in raising issues concerning the lower-class people in both national and international platforms," Jaitley said.

The Union Minister informed that Khalsa will not contest the impending Lok Sabha elections and will only contribute to the party.

Meanwhile, Khalsa said: "I would like to express my gratitude to Arun Jaitley and Hardeep Singh Puri for accepting my request to join the party as a 'karyakarta' (worker). I have been influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he did in the last five years."

He opined that the BJP was the only party who can take the country forward.

Speaking to ANI after his induction into the BJP, Khalsa said he is a "free bird" and a "fan" of the Prime Minister.

"I am a free bird. I joined BJP because of one reason. This party can take our nation forward. I am a fan of Narendra Modi sahab," Khalsa said. "There was no intra-party democracy and transparency in AAP. There was dictatorship in the party," he added.

Khalsa was the Indian ambassador to Norway when Operation Bluestar took place in 1984. He had resigned from his post as a mark of protest.