
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has said he left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP because his suggestions on sports were ignored. In an interview with PTI, the 46-year-old…
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has said he left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP because his suggestions on sports were ignored. In an interview with PTI, the 46-year-old said he entered the Rajya Sabha in 2022 on an AAP ticket after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asked him to, but only to raise sports issues. He claimed no one in AAP responded to his ideas.

After Harbhajan and six other AAP MPs joined the BJP in April, protesters burnt his effigy and called him a traitor outside his Jalandhar home. He dismissed the label, saying he did not betray anyone and questioned AAP's unfulfilled promises to Punjab, especially on the state's worsening drug problem.
The claim that a cricketer was not heard in a political party is less about democracy and more about a mismatch of expectations. AAP needed a star, Harbhajan needed a platform for sports. Neither got what they wanted. The real test is not his party switch but what the AAP government in Punjab has done about drugs and sports. The numbers, over 70,000 drug cases registered between 2022 and 2026, will tell us who is accountable to the youth.
Sources (2): indiatvnews.com, thefederal.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.