Former Congress MLA from Jalalabad, Raminder Singh Awla, is set to join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Jattvibeday, ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.Sources said that Awla was likely to join the SAD shortly in Chandigarh.Awla, who represented Jalalabad in the Punjab Assembly from 2019 to 2022, had defeated SAD candidate Raj Singh Dibbipura in the October 2019 bypoll, wresting the seat from the SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s stronghold. The seat had vacated after Sukhbir Badal won the Lok Sabha election from Ferozepur in 2019.Awla, who hails from the adjoining Guruharsahai Assembly segment in Ferozepur district, remained active in the Congress after losing the 2022 Assembly election. Earlier, in the past, there were talks that he would join the BJP.A prominent businessman and former president of the Punjab Youth Congress, Awla also led the Congress campaign in the Guruharsahai municipal elections earlier this year, when the party won 13 of the 15 wards.The former Congress MLA’s political career has also been marked by a confrontation with Sukhbir Badal. In February 2021, a clash broke out between the Congress and SAD workers at the Jalalabad tehsil complex while nominations were being filed for the municipal elections. Sukhbir’s official bulletproof vehicle was damaged in stone-pelting, and four persons were reportedly injured.The SAD leaders had then accused Awla and his son Jatin of being involved in the violence, while Awla denied the allegations and accused Sukhbir’s supporters of instigating the clash. However, after an investigation, the police said their involvement had not been established and the charges against the father-son duo were dropped.Awla’s joining is set to give a fillip to the SAD in Ferozepur and Fazilka districts, as he remains active in both the districts.