SAD not invited for BJP’s UCC meet, Sukhdev Dhindsa to attend
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will not attend the meeting called by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its allies on July 18 to firm up a strategy on the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) law and take feedback
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will not attend the meeting called by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its allies on July 18 to firm up a strategy on the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) law and take feedback.
However, the former leader of the SAD Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who had formed a separate faction SAD (Sanyukt) after quitting the Badals-led Akali Dal, has received the invite for the upcoming meet. Dhindsa confirmed that he will be attending the meeting and said that he would raise the concerns of the Sikhs.
“We are part of the NDA and BJP has invited us to be part of the meeting. If asked we will provide feedback on the UCC. Our stand is clear that we need to study the draft of the proposed law only then we can give our feedback,” Dhindsa said.
Dhindsa added that he would seek time from the Union home minister Amit Shah for a separate meeting to raise the issues of the Sikhs which have been pending for a long time. “Most important is the release of the Sikh prisoners who have been languishing in various jails in the country,” he added.
The list of pending issues is long, but I would take up only those issues which are resolvable, Dhindsa further added.
Meanwhile, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said that the party is not part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or an ally of the BJP. “There is no point in attending the meeting nor have we received any invite,” Cheema said, adding that the party has already rejected the need for a separate civil code as “unnecessary and undesirable”.
It needs mention that a week back the speculations were rife that BJP was re-stitching alliance with former ally SAD, which had severed ties in 2020 as a protest against the now repealed three farm laws. SAD had denied that there was any move to ally again and had said that its alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was intact.
