New Delhi, March 27 -- In a major political setback to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, the party's lone MP in the Lok Sabha, Sushil Kumar Rinku (48), joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Wednesday.

In the bypoll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency held in May last year, Rinku trounced Congress' Karamjit Kaur by a thumping margin of 58, 691 votes, as the grand old party faced defeat in the seat for the first time since 1999.

Rinku, a former Congress leader, joined the BJP in the presence of the party's National General Secretary Vinod Tawde and Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar at the party headquarters here.

AAP MLA from Jalandhar (West), Sheetal Angural, also joined the saffron party along with Rinku.

After joi...