With a year to go for the Assembly elections in Punjab, senior Supreme Court advocate and former AAP MLA Harvinder Singh Phoolka on Wednesday joined the BJP at the party headquarters here, starting his new innings with attacks on the AAP and the Congress.The joining took place in the presence of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar, Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh.Phoolka hit out at the ruling AAP in Punjab over the state’s “worst” farming crisis as well as the Opposition Congress for the “historical wrongs” committed against victims and families of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.The move is significant at a time the saffron party is expanding its outreach in Punjab and among the Sikhs who dominate the politics of the state.Phoolka’s legal credentials and public stature is expected to lend weight to the party’s narrative on justice and accountability.“Punjab is reeling under a severe agriculture crisis under the AAP dispensation. Reports have suggested that the state’s groundwater will drop below 300 m by 2039 and also turn toxic. There is also fear of the land turning barren in the state. The ruling AAP is least bothered about the ground situation,” Phoolka said at a press conference.“The state’s law and order situation is in the doldrums. The current dispensation is silent on corruption, gang wars, extortion calls and the rising drug abuse among the youth,” he said.Welcoming Phoolka, Jakhar said his joining the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed the Central Government had worked sincerely to uplift the Sikh community. He said it was because of these efforts that leaders like Phoolka were associating with the party.“Phoolka, who fearlessly fought for justice for the Sikh community and is respected by every Sikh, has joined the BJP. The association of such a personality with the BJP shows that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party is sincerely working for Sikhism and the Sikh community, and the false narratives created by opponents are breaking in the face of truth,” Jakhar said.Phoolka’s public life has been defined by his sustained legal battle for justice for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He played a central role in pursuing accountability against several Congress leaders, including HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, accused in connection with the violence.“I have been fighting for the 1984 riot (victims) for the past 40 years, and I have been supported by the BJP since then… I have also done a lot of legal work for the BJP. I was with AAP for three years. But my close association has been with the BJP since the beginning,” he said.He accused the Congress of committing genocide in 1984 by massacring thousands of innocent Sikhs.“The Congress’ hands are stained with the blood of Sikhs. The entire genocide was planned by Indira Gandhi during her lifetime, and the same was executed after her death as the party was looking for an opportunity to kill Sikhs. The tragic episode would have occurred even if she were alive,” he said.Phoolka first entered politics with AAP in 2014, contesting the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat in Punjab. He lost the election to Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, who has since joined the BJP and serves as a Union minister.In the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, he secured victory from the Dakha constituency, defeating Akali leader Manpreet Singh Ayali. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly for approximately three months the same year.However, his political journey with AAP was short-lived. After resigning from party positions in 2015, he formally exited the party in January 2019.Puri welcomed Phoolka and said the BJP was not just a national political party but also an agent of social transformation.“Prime Minister Modi has brought crores of people out of abject poverty. The Modi government has moved from women-centric policies to women-led governance,” he said.