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Cong Dhuri MLA Khanna quits
Sushil Goyal
Tribune News Service

May join SAD Speculation is rife that Arvind Khanna may join the SAD. On his Facebook message, Khanna wrote: “The truth is that I did consider joining the Akali Dal, not for any personal gain but for the fact that I could, through the party, get a lot of work done in my ‘halka’ (segment) and also contribute to the development of Punjab.”

Second Cong MLA to resign Khanna is the second Congress MLA to quit the party in the last two months. Earlier, Congress MLA from Talwandi Sabo Jeet Mohinder Singh had quit the party and joined the SAD

Sangrur, May 14
Just two days before the declaration of the Lok Sabha poll results, Congress MLA from Dhuri (Sangrur) Arvind Khanna has resigned from the Punjab Assembly. Khanna has reportedly sent his resignation to the Speaker of Punjab Assembly. He has refused to spell out the reasons for the resignation.

He, however, said some personal reasons were behind the decision. Speculation, however, is rife that he may join SAD any time. On his Facebook message, Khanna has written, "The truth is that I did consider joining the Akali Dal, not for any personal gain but for the fact that I could, through the party, get a lot of work done in my halka and also contribute to the development of Punjab".

Khanna has further said, "This has been a difficult period for me. I wanted to explain my position. But all this was put on hold after Captain Sahib was announced as a Congress candidate from Amritsar. I could not make any move as Captain Sahib was busy in the elections and I was not sure how this would reflect on him and his election effort. I have also had the privilege of communicating with the Congress vice-president and explaining my situation to him".

Khanna was considered close to former Congress Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. In fact, shortly before the announcement for the Lok Sabha elections, it was reported that Khanna would join SAD after resigning as a Congress MLA from Dhuri. However, on the intervention of Amarinder Singh, who reportedly arranged a meeting with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Khanna deferred his decision to resign.

Khanna said time had come for him to step away from politics. His social work in Punjab would continue.

Khanna was elected to the Punjab Assembly in the February 2012 elections on a Congress ticket from Dhuri in Sangrur district. He defeated SAD candidate, a former Punjab minister Gobind Singh Longowal, with a margin of 12,473 votes. Khanna got 51,536 votes while Longowal secured 39,063 votes.

Khanna started his political career as a youth Akali activist. Baljinder Singh Malhi, his political secretary, said Khanna was made secretary general of SAD youth wing in 1996. However, he shifted to the Congress in 1998 when Amarinder joined the Congress.

In the February 2002 Assembly elections, he contested from Sangrur on a Congress ticket and emerged victorious by defeating an independent candidate, former SAD minister Ranjit Singh Ballian, by 19,132 votes. Official SAD candidate Sanmukh Singh Mokha secured third place.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Khanna was given Congress ticket from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency. However, he lost to SAD candidate Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa by a margin of 27,277 votes. Khanna is also a former general secretary and a former treasurer of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC).

Khanna has been running an NGO “Umeed” from Sangrur since 1997. The NGO has been providing health services in over 350 villages and slum areas in different cities. It has also created over 400 self-help groups to make women self-reliant by imparting them training in various occupations.

Khanna is the second Congress MLA to quit the party in the last two months. Earlier, Congress MLA from Talwandi Sabo, Jeet Mohinder Singh, had resigned from the Congress and joined SAD. Consequently, Punjab is all set to witness at least two by-elections shortly.

In fact, the number of by-elections in the state can go up after the Lok Sabha election results. MLAs like Amarinder Singh, Sunil Jakhar, Manpreet Singh Iyalli, Sadhu Singh Dharmsot and Joginder Singh Panjgrian are all fighting the Lok Sabha elections. In the event of victory, Assembly seats would become vacant, thus paving the way from more by-elections.