In a setback to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ahead of the November 13 bypolls in Punjab, senior party leader and former minister Sohan Singh Thandal joined the BJP in Hoshiarpur.

The BJP is likely to filed Thandal from the Chabbewal (SC) assembly seat, from where it is yet to name its candidate.

Thandal was welcomed in the BJP by the party's Punjab in-charge and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and ex-union minister Som Parkash.

Thandal had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha poll from Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency on a SAD ticket.

Thandal, who was the SAD's core committee member, had won the 2012 assembly poll from Chabbewal. But his bid to get reelected remained unsuccessful in 2017 and 2022.

Thandal was the minister for jails, tourism and cultural affairs in the Akali government in Punjab.

The bypolls to the four assembly seats -- “Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala -- were necessitated after their MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha.

The polling will be held on November 13 and the results will be announced on November 23.

The last date for filing nominations is October 25 and the scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on October 28, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 30.

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