Sukhbir’s offer to step down not sincere, says Sekhwan

AMRITSAR:A day after former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said he would step down from the post of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president in an apparent bid to control damage in the party, Taksali leader and former state minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan on Monday termed his statement as insincere.

“He (Sukhbir) is lying. If there was an iota of sincerity in his statement, he could have called me, Ranjit Singh Brahmpura (Khadoor Sahib MP) and Ratan Singh Ajnala (former MP) to the party’s core committee meeting held today (Monday),” said Sekhwan, who is also a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member.

“Even if three of us ask him to quit, he will not do so,” he said while speaking to HT.

The three Akali stalwarts from Majha had recently raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership. They had expressed their dismay at the “sad state of affairs” in the party, a day after senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had quit all party posts on September 30. Subsequently, Brahmpura quit all party posts on October 23.

“Sukhbir’s statement came too late. He should have stepped down soon after the party’s defeat in the assembly elections last year. Then I had asked him to quit

He (Sukhbir) is lying. Had he been sincere, he would have called me, Brahmpura and Ajnala to the party’s core committee meeting held today. SEWA SINGH SEKHWAN, Akali veteran and former minister

the president’s post in the core committee’s meeting with Brahmpura and Ajnala endorsing my view, but he was unwilling to do so,” Sekhwan said.

As who should be made the party president, he said, “Someone who possesses all qualities as per the party’s original constitution. The Akali Dal should adopt the panthic agenda as was done when the party was formed in 1920. Even Badal senior didn’t make any contact us. If Sukhbir steps down, the party will become a force once again,” he said.

In a bid to ameliorate the dissenting