Harinder Singh Khalsa Joins BJP; Resentment Erupts Among Sikhs

CHANDIGARH, Punjab—In an unexpected move today, the sitting Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentarian Harinder Singh Khalsa joined the saffron Bhartya Janta Party. He was inducted into the party fold by the Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Hardeep Singh Puri and the general secretary (organization) Ram Lal.

Notably, Harinder Singh Khalsa had won the parliamentary seat of Fatehgarh Sahib on AAP’s ticket in 2014 but later he was ousted from the party in 2015.

Harinder Singh Khalsa held high respect among the Sikh community as he had resigned from the Indian Foreign Services in protest of the Indian army’s invasion into the holiest Sikh shrine Sri Harmandir Sahib in June-1984.  

He had returned back to India from Norway in 1990, after being assured that the cases against him would be dropped.

Reacting to the move, Dal Khalsa patron Bhai Gajinder Singh said that Harinder Singh Khalsa has lost the respect among the Sikh community that he had earned with the sacrifices made in protest of June-1984’s attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib. “Harinder Singh Khalsa is no more for us,” he added.