Akali Dal leader, brother join BJP

Inder Atwal, former vice-president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, joined the BJP along with his brother Jasjit Singh Atwal. Both accepted the primary membership of the party. Lauding PM Narendra Modi’s governance model, Atwal credited him for the reopening of the Kartarpur corridor and for what he described as “implementation of BR Ambedkar’s ideas in letter and spirit”. “If there is anyone implementing the ideas and ideals of Ambedkar in social and economic sense, it is the government of PM Narendra Modi. I am joining the BJP impressed by the governance model of the government at the Centre through the last mile implementation of various welfare schemes,” said Atwal, who represents Mazhabi Sikhs within the Punjab’s vast SC segment. Atwal pledged to work for the expansion of the BJP and its ideology.