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Senior Advocate and human rights activist HS Phoolka formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the national capital on Wednesday.
The event saw the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, BJP's National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, and several other senior party leaders. Phoolka, a former prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, joined the party in January 2014 and contested the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, losing to Congress's Ravneet Singh Bittu by 19,709 votes. In 2017, he won the Dakha constituency in the Punjab Assembly elections, defeating Akali leader Manpreet Singh Ayali. He resigned from all party positions in 2015 and officially left AAP in January 2019, stating that entering politics had been a mistake and choosing to focus entirely on his legal battles. Phoolka is a senior advocate of the Delhi High Court, a human rights activist, author, and politician, known for his relentless fight for justice for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He spearheaded one of the longest and most challenging legal battles to hold Congress leaders, including HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, and Jagdish Tytler, accountable for their roles in the killings. In recognition of his efforts, he was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019. Following the riots, Phoolka helped form the Citizens Justice Committee (CJC) in 1985, which brought together legal luminaries and human rights activists to represent the victims before various judicial commissions. He also launched the website in 2001 to make documents and findings about the riots publicly accessible. Alongside another journalist, he co-authored When a Tree Shook Delhi, the first comprehensive account of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre. (ANI)
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