In a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, its sitting Lok Sabha MP from Punjab’s Ludhiana on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of senior party leader Vinod Tawde.

“I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi…I can say with confidence that PM Modi and Union Home Minister share a lot of love for Punjab and they wish to do a lot for the state…Why should Punjab be left behind?” Bittu said after joining the saffron party.

Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who was assassinated by Khalistanis in 1995, had earlier demanded action against then Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu. Bittu has often cited Sidhu as the reason behind the Congress’ defeat in the Assembly elections in the state last year. Infighting has been a persisting issue for the Congress’ Punjab unit even after the elections.

Bittu had also opposed the Congress’ alliance with AAP in the state — AAP eventually decided that it will go solo — and also asked its leaders against contesting the polls together. Bittu has claimed that since coming to power, the AAP government has misused agencies and police against the Congress.

Besides internal politics, the Ludhiana MP has also been in the news for his remarks. In Septemeber 2023, Ravneet Bittu claimed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party was receiving funds from terrorists like Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He also claimed that Nijjar went to Canada in 1993 and got citizenship.

The Congress MP’s remarks came after the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June triggered a diplomatic row between India and Canada. Bittu said that the Canadian government was “not sincere” in handling the threats posed by these gangsters and terrorists.

“If Trudeau’s father and his party was sincere in handling (extremist) threats, then they should have properly investigated the 1985 Air India 182 bombing,” he said. “What Pakistan used to be earlier, Canada is taking the same role now,” he had then said.

Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1. The BJP has announced that it will contest the general elections on its own, leaving the AAP, Congress, BJP and the Akali Dal as the major contenders.