Slain CM Beant Singh scion, Rahul Gandhi loyalist: Three-time Congress MP Ravneet Bittu joins BJP

Bittu is currently the MP from Ludhiana, a seat he is representing for a second consecutive term. Before that, he had won the Lok Sabha election from Anandpur Sahib in 2009 when he was the Punjab Youth Congress president.

Soon after joining the BJP, Bittu said: “I have been looking at the work of PM Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah for 10 years… Modiji has done so much for the country and… Punjab…we will work hard to connect people with the BJP and apprise them of what all has been done for them and what is in store.”

“During the dark days of terrorism… BJP leaders had worked hand-in-hand with my grandfather (Beant Singh)… they worked as a team irrespective of the party affiliations to wipe out terrorism from Punjab …Madan Mohan Mittal, Lakshmi Kanta Chawla, and many more leaders,” he said.

#WATCH | Delhi: Ravneet Singh Bittu says, “I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi…I can say with confidence that PM Modi and Union Home Minister share a lot of love for Punjab and they wish to do a lot for the state…Why should Punjab be left behind?…” https://t.co/Ih3qU6OMx9 pic.twitter.com/xCs2z8CjwJ

— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Politics was never the first choice for Bittu, who had initially opened a cement production unit in Ludhiana’s Lalru village. It was a meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in 2007 that paved his entry into politics.

“Rahul Gandhi had become general secretary of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and I had gone to congratulate him. He told me not to let my grandfather’s legacy and sacrifice go to waste. He told me to join active politics,” Bittu had told The Indian Express in an interview. Bittu was later elected as the Punjab Youth Congress chief in 2008 when he was 33.

In 2017, Bittu contested the Punjab Assembly polls from Jalalabad constituency against then deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and then state AAP chief Bhagwant Mann. Bittu stood third.

Ravneet Singh Bittu (centre) with BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde (left) in New Delhi, Tuesday. (Express photo: Amit Mehra)

Bittu always files his nomination papers, arriving in his grandfather’s 1985-model White Ambassador, a vehicle he considers his lucky charm.

Reacting to Bittu’s decision to join BJP, his cousin and two-time former Congress MLA from Khanna, Gurkirat Kotli said: “It has come as a surprise for us. He never consulted with the family. I will remain with the Congress.”

Former Punjab CM Beant Singh had three sons: Tej Parkash, Swaranjit Singh Noni, and Sukhwant Singh, along with two daughters: Gurkanwal Kaur and Manjit Kaur Mangat. Bittu is the son of Noni, who passed away in 1986 in his early 40s due to illness, just as he was about to enter politics, according to Congress sources.

Noni had two children, Ravneet Singh Bittu and a daughter named Apandeep Kaur. The 48-year-old three-term Congress MP, Ravneet Singh Bittu, entered politics at a young age.

Known for his oratorical skills, Bittu won his maiden election from Anandpur Sahib in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and secured victories in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ludhiana.

Bittu’s sister, Apandeep Kaur, is married to Bikram Singh Moffar, a Youth Congress leader from Mansa. Moffar’s father, Ajit Inder Singh Moffar, is the three-time Congress MLA from Sardulgarh. Bittu’s half-brother, Guriqbal Singh, was appointed as a DSP in the Punjab Police in 2021 by the then Amarinder Singh government on “compassionate grounds,” allegedly through tweaked rules. Guriqbal claimed there was a delay in his job application in this regard as he was only six when his grandfather Beant Singh was assassinated. His appointment had been challenged in court and had invited widespread controversy.

Bittu’s aunt Gurkanwal Kaur had joined BJP ahead of the February 2017 Vidhan Sabha polls, only to return to Congress after four days.