New Delhi, April 1
Senior Supreme Court advocate and former Aam Aadmi Party leader H S Phoolka joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday, in a move the party projected as significant outreach to the Sikh community.
Phoolka, widely known for representing victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in their long legal battle for justice, was welcomed by BJP leaders after formally joining the party. In a statement, the Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar described Phoolka as a lawyer who had “fearlessly fought for justice for the Sikh community” and said his decision to join the party reflected what it called the BJP’s efforts under Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work for the Sikh community and Sikhism. The party also said his entry helped counter what it described as “false narratives” spread by its political opponents.
Phoolka joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 and quit in 2019 after a five-year association. He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana in Punjab as an AAP candidate, but lost to Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, who is now a BJP leader and a Union minister.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, Phoolka won from the Dakha constituency and briefly served as Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly.
He later resigned from the post after around three months, saying he wanted to focus on pursuing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in the Delhi High Court.
