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Chandigarh, Sep 7 (PTI): Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday slammed AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal over the induction of gangster-turned-politician Gurpreet Singh Sekhon into the ruling party.

Sekhon joined the AAP along with his supporters in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at a rally in Zira in Ferozepur on Sunday.

He was one of the main accused in the sensational 2016 Nabha jailbreak case in which armed criminals launched an attack on the high-security prison and freed six prisoners including Sekhon.

However, Sekhon, a resident of Mudki in Ferozepur, was later arrested and sentenced to a 10-year imprisonment in March 2023. His conviction was suspended in November 2023 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court while hearing his appeal against the trial court verdict.

Sekhon, who has several criminal cases registered against him, has sought to position himself as a social worker.

Reacting to Sekhon's induction in the AAP, Warring said the AAP was "playing dirty politics out of despair and frustration".

He claimed that the AAP was planning to field Sekhon from Zira, when it already had a sitting MLA from that constituency.

This obviously means that the AAP has lost the ground and is now trying to use gangsters in the elections, the Congress MP alleged in a statement.

He reminded Kejriwal that when Nabha jailbreak had taken place in 2016, the AAP supremo had criticized the law and order in Punjab.

Now the same Kejriwal has inducted the "mastermind" of the jailbreak into the party, he said, adding that the people of Punjab were watching.

Warring said the people want to get rid of gangsters while the AAP was inducting them into the party and "empowering" them.

He also recalled how CM Mann would taunt Akalis during the Tarn Taran bypoll as the party (the Akali Dal) had fielded the mother-in-law of a gangster from there.

"With what face will you face the people after inducting someone with several criminal cases, including the Nabha jailbreak, registered against him?" he asked the AAP leadership.

Warring also met the newly appointed Congress general secretary in-charge of Punjab Sachin Pilot in Delhi.

He said Pilot has always been a much-sought-after leader in the country.

He also said that while he was the president of the Indian Youth Congress, Pilot always used to be in great demand after Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Later, talking to reporters, Warring said that the entire rank and file of the Congress in Punjab was united and very soon entire leadership will be seen on the single platform. PTI CHS KVK KVK

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)