Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Sita Soren, who is the sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, and former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu joined the BJP in the national capital on Tuesday.

Sita Soren was welcomed into the party fold at the BJP headquarters in Delhi by BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde.

Sandhu, who hails from Amritsar, joined the saffron party in the presence of Vinod Tawde and party leaders Tarun Chugh and Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

After resigning from the membership of the JMM, Sita Soren tendered her resignation from the membership of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly as well. She was the general secretary of the JMM.

“Many circumstances arose in the party; in the end, it was a matter of morality for me. So I tender my resignation as MLA,” Sita Soren stated in her letter to the Jharkhand Assembly Speaker.

Sita Soren claimed that the JMM did not give her due recognition.

“I served the party for 14 years, but to date, I have not received the respect I deserved during this period. As such, I am taking this big decision to honour the hard work of my late husband Durgashwar ji… Our work has not been acknowledged till date, nor did we receive the due respect from any other party,” Sita Soren said.

“I had to take this decision today. Under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is gaining popularity in foreign countries as well. I have full faith and trust in JP Nadda ji, Amit Shah ji, and Devendra Fernandes ji and I am sure they will support me in my endeavour to save Jharkhand,” she added.

On joining the BJP, Sandhu said that Prime Minister Modi is a development-oriented leader and that his primary goal is develop his native place, Amritsar.

“In the past 10 years, I have worked closely under PM Modi’s leadership, especially in fostering relationships with the United States and Sri Lanka. PM Modi is focused on the all-round development of the country, and I intend to ensure that the benefits of development also reach Amritsar.

“I thank the party president, the Prime Minister, and the Home Minister who encouraged me to pursue this new path of serving the nation,” he said.

While the BJP has named candidates for 11 out of 14 seats in Jharkhand, the INDIA bloc is yet to announce its candidates. Polling would be held in Jharkhand in four phases, from May 13 to June 1.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 11 seats with a 51.9 per cent vote share, while the Congress, the JMM, and the ASJU won one seat each.

The BJP and the Congress have not yet named candidates for 13 seats in Punjab, whereas the AAP has named 8 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including 5 ministers from Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet.

AAP has fielded Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur, Sushil Kumar Rinku from Jalandhar, and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Amritsar.

The 2024 general election in Punjab will be held on June 1 to elect 13 members of the 18th Lok Sabha.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 2 seats with a 9.7 per cent vote share, while the Congress clinched 8 seats with a 40.6 per cent vote share. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AAP won 1 seat each.

The elections for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be conducted from April 19 to June 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.