Former Jalalabad MLA Awla Switches to Akali Dal Ahead of 2027

A major political development has emerged in Punjab as senior Congress leader and former Jalalabad MLA Ramindar Singh Awla has joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. The switch comes ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections and is seen as a considerable setback for Congress in the state.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, welcomed Awla into the party. Badal shared the news on the social media platform X, expressing happiness at Awla's induction and recalling that Jalalabad had given him the chance to serve three times.

Badal also described Jalalabad as a constituency that had seen remarkable development during Akali Dal governments. He said he was confident that Awla's association with the party would help strengthen the Shiromani Akali Dal in the constituency as well as the wider border area, with the aim of securing a clear victory for the party in 2027.

Awla's rise in politics has been closely linked to Jalalabad. In the 2019 bypoll, he secured a win for Congress on the seat, defeating the Akali Dal candidate by around 16,000 votes. The result was historic, as it was the first time in 17 years that Congress had won the constituency, which is considered a stronghold of the Akali Dal.

Awla had risen steadily through the Congress organisation. Starting as a booth-level worker, he later became president of the Punjab Youth Congress and then general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. The party further elevated him to the post of secretary in the All India Congress Committee and assigned him responsibility for Karnataka.

His decision to join the Akali Dal ahead of the 2027 elections is likely to shape the political discussion in Punjab in the coming months.