AAP ropes in Navjot Singh Sidhu ally Bains brothers of Ludhiana

By Aanchal Bansal

NEW DELHI: After hitting a stalemate over forging an alliance with former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, the AAP in Punjab has managed to strengthen its position after a pact with the Bains brothers of Ludhiana.

The duo, Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjeet Singh Bains, are independent MLAs from Atam Nagar and Ludhiana South and were part of Sidhu’s five-member party Awaaz-e-Punjab.

As per the alliance, which was announced on Monday after a late evening meeting with AAP’s leader Arvind Kejriwal in Bhatinda on Sunday, Bains brothers’ Lok Insaf Party (LIP), which was formed in October, will contest from five seats.

These five seats include the two seats that are represented by the two brothers. “We are still to finalise the the other three seats,” said AAP’s national organisation building head Durgesh Pathak.

Amidst rumours of Sidhu aligning with the Congress, given that AAP turned down his demand for being the CM face, this alliance has jeopardized Sidhu’s prospects in the upcoming polls.

The Bains brothers, who were formerly associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), did not rule out the possibility of bringing in Sidhu and former hockey player Pargat Singh into the alliance.

“We will try and convince Sidhu to join us once again,” Simranjeet told ET. With AAP’s prospects dwindling over the last one month, visible in the dull response to the its dharna on the SYL issue in Kapoori village, the move, party sources said, will strengthen its position in the Malwa region. AAP had won four seats from the region in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.