New Delhi, April 1 -- Senior human rights lawyer Harvinder Singh Phoolka, who has been fighting a long legal battle for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday.

Phoolka, a Jat Sikh from Bhadaur town of Sangrur, was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was a former legislator in the Punjab Assembly.

After joining the BJP on Wednesday, Phoolka recalled how he and his wife, who was then expecting, had escaped the rioters in 1984 after his landlord's family hid them.

He also spoke in detail about the legal battle he waged on behalf of the victims and how the BJP lent support for it. A recipient of the Padma Shri in 2019, Phoolka pursued the case against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar a...