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Infighting in Akali Dal: Jalandhar West SAD candidate Surjit Kaur joins AAP
Left in lurch amid infighting in Shiromani Akali Dal, two-time municipal councillor ditches party, joins Aam Aadmi Party in presence of chief minister Bhagwant Mann
In a setback to both the Shiromani Akali Dal and its rebel group, the SAD candidate for the Jalandhar West assembly byelection, Surjit Kaur, on Tuesday joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
Surjit Kaur’s candidature was announced by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on June 20 following which she filed her nomination papers a day later. However, due to infighting in the SAD after its poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Sukhbir withdrew the party’s support to the two-time municipal councillor, claiming she belonged to the rebel group and her candidature had been arbitrarily announced by Bibi Jagir Kaur and former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala.
Jagir Kaur and Wadala, who are among senior party leaders who have demanded that Sukhbir step down as party chief, reached Surjit Kaur’s house and assured her that senior leaders of the party would campaign for her and provide financial assistance for her campaign.
Both leaders had even begun campaigning for Surjit Kaur but her decision to quit and join the AAP came as a shock to them.
Not Akali stronghold
The Shiromani Akali Dal has not contested elections from the Jalandhar West assembly constituency for over two decades as the seat had been allocated to then ally, the BJP. The saffron party remained a SAD ally from 1997 to 2020.
In 2022, the SAD gave this seat to the Bahujan Samaj Party with which it had a poll pact and the SAD-BSP candidate, Anil Meena, got only 4,125 votes. The SAD has extended support to the BSP candidate in Jalandhar West, a Scheduled Caste reserved seat.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, SAD candidate Mohinder Singh Kaypee got only 2,623 votes in the constituency that was once his stronghold.
