DHINDSA HAS BACKSTABBED PARTY, SAYS BADAL SENIOR
SHOW OF STRENGTH Breaks his silence over issue at SAD’s Sangrur rally where a resolution was passed seeking expulsion of Dhindsas from the party
SANGRUR: Former chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday accused rebel Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of backstabbing the party when it is going through a “tough time.” Breaking his silence on the issue at a party rally here, Badal said, “Dhindsa and (Ranjit Singh) Brahmpura advised me to make Sukhbir chief minister,
but I refused.”
SANGRUR: Former chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday accused rebel Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of backstabbing the party when it is going through “tough times.”
Breaking his silence on the issue at a party rally here, Badal said, “Dhindsa and (Ranjit Singh) Brahmpura advised me to make Sukhbir chief minister, but I refused. Despite being party chief, Sukhbir used to touch the feet of both these leaders out of respect. Now, Dhindsa has termed Sukhbir a dictator. I am surprised why he backstabbed the party.”
Badal also said he always sought Dhindsa’s counsel on various personal issues. “I even consulted Dhindsa and Brahmpura before my daughter’s marriage. I think Dhindsa has taken a wrong step. He has ruined his respect and his son’s future. I don’t know where they will go now,” he added.
Accusing the Congress of being an anti-Sikh party, he said, “The Congress wants to capture the SGPC but we will not allow them to capture our religious places at any cost. Even if we don’t come back to power, we will not allow the gurdwaras to be under control of these people.”
SUKHBIR DUBS DHINDSA TRAITOR, DICTATOR
Sukhbir also lashed out at Dhindsa, describing him as a traitor and dictator, who is now “politically finished”.
“Dhindsa is a dictator who did not allow his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa to take an independent decision,” he said.
The SAD chief also accused Dhinsda of being “hand in glove” with Capt Amarinder Singh “who wants to break” Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
“Amarinder Singh, during his previous term, had registered police cases against all SAD leaders but he provided security to Dhindsa. Every year, traitors like Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa come to contest SGPC elections. People have been blessing the SAD in SGPC polls for the past 100 years. We are ready for SGPC elections whenever they want to contest,” Sukhbir said.
Though the party had named it a ‘Rosh (protest) rally’ against the Captain Amarinder Singh government for its alleged failure
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Dhindsa and (Ranjit Singh) Brahmpura advised me to make Sukhbir CM, but I refused. Dhindsa has taken a wrong step. He also ruined his son’s future. PARKASH SINGH BADAL, former Punjab CM and SAD patron
to fulfil the pre-poll promises of the Congress, the event turned out to be a showdown against Dhindsa and his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa for their rebellion. Sukhbir said, “Today’s rally is a referendum and this marks the bhog (political demise) of Dhindsas.”
The SAD rally also passed a resolution seeking expulsion of Dhindsas from the party. The resolution was read out by Sangrur district Akali Dal president Iqbal Singh Jhunda and passed after the entire gathering of leaders and workers endorsed it.
In another resolution, the party demanded that Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Parminder
Dhindsa should resign from Rajya Sabha and state assembly respectively.
Among other resolutions, the SAD demanded that Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is on the death row in the Beant Singh assassination case, should be freed and Muslims should be included in the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
SGPC FUNDS MISUSE ALLEGATIONS ARE BASELESS: LONGOWAL
SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal, who also spoke on the occasion, criticised Dhindsa for making “baseless allegations’ about misuse of SGPC funds.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Akali leaders Tota Singh, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Baldev Singh Mann, Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Sikandar Singh Maluka and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former state minister Madan Mohan Mittal.