Congress MLAs from Punjab Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa and Balwinder Singh Laddi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi on Tuesday, NDTV reported.

Bajwa is the MLA from Qadian, Laddi is the MLA from Shri Hargobindpur.

Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa is the brother of former Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa.

At a recent rally, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had announced that Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa would be a candidate of the party in the Assembly election.

Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa and Laddi, who were elected in 2017 as first-time MLAs, joined the party in the presence of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Meanwhile, former cricketer Dinesh Mongia and ex-Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Gurtej Singh Ghuriana also joined the BJP on Tuesday, the Hindustan Times reported.

This comes ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, which are expected to be held early next year. The BJP has forged an alliance with the Punjab Lok Congress led by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukta) led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

In the 2017 Punjab elections, the BJP had allied with the Akali Dal and had won three seats. The Akali Dal had bagged 15 constituencies.

This time, the Akali Dal has announced an alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.