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A conspiracy and a new low: SAD on DSGMC chief Manjinder Sirsa’s switch to BJP
SAD said that the BJP has stooped to a new low in politics by poaching DSGMC chief Manjinder Sirsa after implicating him in false cases
Visibly rattled, Akali leadership went into a huddle immediately after former DSGMC chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal held a virtual meeting with senior party leaders to discuss the scenario post Sirsa’s resignation as DSGMC president.
Reacting to the development, the Akali Dal described Sirsa’s crossover as an “attempt by the enemies of the Khalsa Panth to achieve through conspiracies what they cannot achieve with the will of the Sikh community”. “Khalsa Panth is too big, individuals come and go. The Panth is forever,” said a statement from the party headquarters here.
According to SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema, the BJP has stooped to a new low in politics by poaching Sirsa after implicating him in false cases. “Sirsa has been fighting issues related to the Sikhs. Our party feels sad that he succumbed to the pressure,” Cheema said.
With 2022 Punjab polls round the corner and SAD making desperate efforts to rise from the dungeons, especially when it ranked number three in the seat tally in 2017 polls below the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sirsa was seen as a tangible face to pep-up party’s poll prospects. Before the switchover by Sirsa, the party even discussed having his name in the electoral rolls in Punjab, insiders say. He was a member of the party’s top decision-making body and close to party chief Sukhbir Badal and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
One of the suave Akali leaders, 49-year-old Sirsa, who moved to Delhi from Sirsa in Haryana, scaled the political ladder at a fast pace. Sirsa is currently one of the four BJP MLAs in 66-member Delhi assembly, representing Rajouri Garden constituency with a considerable number of Sikh voters.
Sirsa became president of DSGMC ousting Manjit Singh GK in March 2019. In the DSGMC polls held in August this year, Sirsa, who led SAD’s campaign, lost to ex-DSGMC president Harvinder Singh Sarna, but the party got the majority by winning 27 of the 46 seats.
Sirsa is facing at least five cases for alleged bungling of the DSGMC accounts. Despite cases against him, Sirsa has been vociferously raising Sikh issues. He even supported farmers’ agitation and recently went to Mumbai to lodge a complaint against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut when she wrote a post on social media platform, Instagram, that was construed as anti-Sikhs.
“I have resigned not out of any grudge. I want to resolve Sikhs’ issues and do not want them to be on a confrontation path always. The BJP wants to connect with the Sikhs and I will play a role,” Sirsa said on his joining the saffron party. He said he has sacrificed the post of DSGMC president to which he was nominated even after he lost the election.
“I want to get reservation for Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir, resolve Gurdwara Gyan Godri issue, protection of Shillong Sikhs’ rights, representation for Sikligars in Madhya Pradesh and a Sikh university in Delhi. The BJP has recognised my work and my joining shows that they have given importance to Sikhs,” he added, clarifying that he didn’t speak to “Sukhbir Ji” before joining the BJP.
