Gangster-turned-politician Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, who has had 47 criminal cases registered against him and was the main accused in the sensational 2016 Nabha jailbreak, joined the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, triggering sharp criticism from the Opposition parties.Sekhon, a resident of the Mudki area in Ferozepur district, joined the AAP at a public rally in Zira, an Assembly constituency from where he had announced to contest the 2027 elections as an Independent.Welcoming Sekhon into the party, Mann said, “The resounding applause from the people present on this occasion indicates that the public is thoroughly fed up with the plunder by traditional parties and now only favours politics of work”.Sekhon’s induction into the AAP drew sharp criticism from Opposition parties with state Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring saying that the ruling party was setting a dangerous precedent.“What message are you going to convey with this?” he asked Mann, warning him not to “incentivise gangster culture.”Warring said such rehabilitation is dangerous where criminals first intimidate people, indulge in crime and extortion and subsequently enter electoral politics to erase their past.Shiromani Akali Dal said if this was “AAP’s policy towards gangsters, you can well imagine the state of law and order in Punjab”. It also took a dig at the ongoing anti-gangster operation ‘Gangstran Te Vaar’, launched by the Punjab Police. “Not war, but love with gangsters. That seems to be the AAP’s new campaign”.Story continues below this adSekhon, meanwhile, maintained that he had turned his life around. “All the cases against me have now been disposed of,” he claimed, adding that he had been serving the people of the area for several years.Addressing the rally, Sekhon described Mann as an elder brother and said he would remain committed to supporting him. “I have seen many ups and downs in my life but never stopped praying to God. Today, I am joining the AAP with my huge family of supporters,” he said.Sekhon told The Indian Express that he had earlier been associated with the SAD but had decided to join the AAP on the advice of his supporters. “I have no ill feeling against the SAD, but my supporters guided me to join the AAP and hence I am joining the party,” he said.During the block samiti elections in December last year, the SAD had supported Independent candidates backed by Shekhon and had refrained from putting up candidates in some areas where his supporters were contesting. Sekhon himself had been arrested during the elections under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita following complaints by rival candidates. He was released on bail after five days, with SAD leaders also assisting his family.Story continues below this adAt the time, Sekhon had openly targeted the AAP and local MLA Rajnish Dahiya. His position, however, began changing over the past several months, with him publicly praising Mann on several occasions.Asked whether he would seek party ticket from Zira, currently represented by AAP’s Naresh Kataria, in the coming Assembly elections, Sekhon said: “That is up to the party”.Sekhon has had a controversial past with police records showing 47 cases registered against him over the years. He was among accused in the November 2016 Nabha jailbreak, in which a group of armed assailants attacked the high-security prison and freed six inmates, including Sekhon and two alleged terrorists. He was rearrested in February 2017 and has been out on bail in the case since November 22, 2023.His name had also figured in the 2015 murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan, who was shot dead while being transported in police custody. Sekhon had also been associated with gangsters Shera Khubban and Vicky Gounder.Story continues below this adSekhon’s supporters, however, say he has left his criminal past behind and has spent the past several years working on social causes. They point to his involvement in arranging marriages for girls from poor families, contributions towards road construction and distribution of ration, cattle feed and other relief material during last year’s floods. “He has completely reformed himself and there is not even a single case against him in the past three years,” a supporter claimed.Meanwhile, Warring, accompanied by hundreds of Congress workers, including former MLA Kulbir Singh Zira, marched towards Mann’s rally venue in Zira on Sunday, carrying black flags and sporting black bands around their turbans.The protest was organised to express solidarity with Mohanjeet Singh of Sangrur who has alleged torture by the police in custody for showing a black flag to Mann during a September 2 Lok Milni program in the district.Raising slogans against Mann and the Punjab Police, Warring and Congress workers attempted to march towards the rally venue but were stopped before reaching the site.