India, May 11 -- Gian Singh Mann, the first cousin of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chandigarh on Monday.

The induction took place at the state BJP headquarters in Sector 37, Chandigarh, in the presence of Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar.

Gian Singh shares both maternal and paternal ties with the chief minister and belongs to their ancestral village of Satoj in Sangrur district.

The defection marks a complete reversal for Gian Singh, who was previously a supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a key figure in his cousin's local political machinery.

During Bhagwant Mann's tenure as the member of Parliament from Sangrur between...