Chandigarh: Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans joined the Congress party yesterday in the presence of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt. Amarinder Singh. Hans Raj Hans who remained politically inactive for over a year ever since he left the SAD (Badal) around the end of 2014, said that had “tasted politics”, and could not stay away for too long therefore.

“I was trapped in the Akali Dal by its top leaders. Badal saab came to my house… I could not say no,” said Hans Raj Hans.

Hans, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste, had entered the Akali fold in 2009 and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election that year from Jalandhar, an SC-reserved constituency.

He also remained the party’s vice-president but announced his exit — after much public posturing about feeling “sidelined” from the Badal Dal in December 2014.

Hans Raj Hans said it was because of the “arrogance” of the Akali leaders that he decided to quit the party. “They only used me to woo crowds,” he added.