In a significant political development, Robin Sampla, a close confidant and nephew of former National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Vijay Sampla, has joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The move deals a blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been poaching leaders from the Congress and AAP in Punjab. Robin Sampla’s defection follows Vijay Sampla’s denial of a BJP Lok Sabha election ticket for Punjab’s Hoshiarpur seat. Vijay Sampla is a former Union minister of state for social justice and was reportedly upset with the BJP. He had been considering joining the Shiromani Akali Dal.