Chandigarh, May 9 (IANS): In a setback to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), its Lok Sabha candidate from Chandigarh, Hardeep Singh Buterla, along with supporters joined AAP on Thursday after leaving the Akali Dal.

Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab, President and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann formally inducted Buterla and all his associates into the party.

Buterla has been a local municipal councilor from Chandigarh thrice. He has also been the senior deputy mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Due to his strong hold among people, the Akali Dal had declared him as its candidate for the Lok Sabha elections this time.

After joining AAP, Buterla thanked the Chief Minister for making him a part of the AAP family. He said the works of the Mann government in the past two years and public welfare policies inspired him to join AAP.

The INDIA bloc candidate for this seat is Manish Tewari, who has assured the residents that he will make up for the loss of 10 years under the BJP rule if voted to power.

Two-time Congress MP Tewari is up against BJP's Sanjay Tandon, whom the party picked after dropping two-term sitting MP and actor-turned-politician Kirron Kher.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, SAD was in an alliance with the BJP.

Chandigarh will go to the polls on June 1.