A group of rebel Akali leaders on Tuesday elected and declared Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the party, however, termed the act “illegal”.
Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa were expelled from SAD for “anti party” activities earlier this year.
They had rebelled against the top party leadership, demanding Sukhbir Badal’s (who is currently the party president) resignation to restore the party’s “lost glory”.
Parminder Kaur Gulshan, a former Lok Sabha MP, said Mr. Dhindsa’s name for the post of party president was proposed at a meeting and he has been elected as the new chief of the Akali Dal.
Former Minister and senior leader Daljeet Singh Cheema, meanwhile, said Mr. Dhindsa had engaged in an illegal act by taking on the nomenclature of Shiromani Akali Dal for his outfit on the directions of the Congress as part of a larger conspiracy against the SAD.
“No one can hold a mohalla-level meeting and make a wild claim about replacing a 100-year-old party, fully knowing this is not possible as per the constitution of the party. Mr. Dhindsa has gone his own way as is his right in a democratic set-up. Our only objection is to the fraud being committed by him by taking on the namesake of SAD,” said Mr. Cheema here.
Congress blamed
He said it appeared that Mr. Dhindsa had collected a few people at the instance of the Congress.
“Both the Dhindsa faction and the Aam Aadmi Party had become social media agents of the Congress. These parties are working at the behest of the Congress to form a grand alliance against SAD. The people will see through this conspiracy and reject them both,” Mr. Cheema said.
