Rebel SAD leaders appoint Dhindsa party chief of namesake political outfit

The leaders blamed Sukbhir Singh Badal for the 2017 election debacle and his dubious role in the probe of the sacrilege incident and police firing on peaceful protestors

Rebel Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders floated a namesake party and appointed Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as the new party chief at Gurdwara Shaheedan in Model Town on Tuesday.

HT Photo

The leaders arbitrarily removed SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal from the party’s top post and appointed Dhindsa as the new party chief. Former MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan nominated him for the post of president. The nomination was seconded by former minister Jagdish Singh Garcha, jathedar Seva Singh Sekhwan, Harjeet Kaur Talwandi (the daughter of jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi) and former MP Desh Raj Dhugga. Among those present were Balwant Singh Ramuwalia, Manjit Singh GK, Mann Singh Garcha, former deputy Punjab assembly speaker Bir Davinder Singh, Didar Singh. Ex-finance minister and Dhindsa’s son Parminder Singh Dhindsa and other leaders, including those from Haryana, were present. The leaders blamed Sukbhir for the 2017 election debacle and his dubious role in the probe of the sacrilege incident and police firing on peaceful protestors.

(Clarification: Former MLA Mantar Singh Brar was not present in the Ludhiana meeting held by Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as erroneously reported in the earlier version of this story which was uploaded on Tuesday).