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SAD’s Chandigarh pick Hardeep jumps to AAP
Major setback for SAD, shot in the arm for INDIA bloc candidate Manish Tewari, who is contesting the Lok Sabha poll from a Congress ticket with AAP support
Three days after quitting the Shiromani Akali Dal, party’s Chandigarh candidate Hardeep Singh Saini, 41, switched to the Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday, dealing a significant blow to the panthic party and boosting the campaign of INDIA bloc candidate Manish Tewari.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann formally inducted Saini and his associates into the party, extending a warm welcome to them.
After joining the AAP, Saini said, “The work of CM Bhagwant Mann in the last two years and his public welfare policies inspired me to join his party. Secondly, SAD also ditched me, leaving me heartbroken.”
Stating that he will strengthen the AAP in Chandigarh, he announced wholehearted support to Manish Tewari in Chandigarh and Malvinder Singh Kang in Anandpur Sahib: “I will make sure Tewari wins with a thumping majority.”
On May 6, Saini had resigned from SAD, citing lack of funds and support from the party leadership for his candidature.
Saini, who was also the president of SAD’s Chandigarh unit, had surrendered his ticket while tendering his resignation, along with some office-bearers.
As he was the lone SAD councillor in Chandigarh, his switch to the AAP will also bump up the party’s strength in the 35-member MC House from 12 to 13. The BJP has 15 councillors and the Congress seven.
This was the first time that SAD had fielded a candidate from Chandigarh for the Lok Sabha as until now, the party had been supporting candidates of the BJP, with which it had an alliance since 1996. The two parties had snapped ties in 2021 following differences over the now-scrapped three farm laws.
In 2023, Saini, the lone member of SAD, had decided to abstain from voting in the mayoral polls, while in 2024, he supported the BJP, but the saffron party lost after the Supreme Court overturned the election result on February 20 in favour of AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor.
Two-decade journey with SAD comes to an end
Born and brought up at Buterla village in Chandigarh, Saini has studied till Class 10 and runs a tent house business in Sector 37. He was first elected as a councillor from Ward Number 10 on a SAD ticket in 2015.
He had wrested the seat vacated by his elder brother, Malkiat Singh, who had died in October 2014. Saini won again in 2016 and 2021 from the same ward.
Malkiat had fallen ill during municipal corporation’s controversial 10-day study tour to Port Blair, Chennai and Kolkata from August 31 to September 9, 2014. He complained of severe abdominal pain on September 5 during a visit to Havelock Island at Port Blair. His illness was diagnosed as a case of pancreatitis and he was shifted to the ICU at AIIMS, where after one month, he died on October 8, 2014.
Saini’s father Gurnam Singh, who was also associated with SAD, was elected councillor from the same ward in 2006 and died in 2009, following which Malkiat won the seat.
A second generation Akali leader, Saini was appointed as SAD’s Chandigarh unit president in 2018. In 2016, he was elected as the deputy mayor, and three years later as the senior deputy mayor in 2019.
Samajwadi Party announces support for Tewari
INDIA bloc constituent Samajwadi Party on Thursday formally announced its support for Manish Tewari, the alliance’s candidate from Chandigarh.
As part of INDIA bloc, Congress has already forged seat-sharing alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh; and AAP in Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa.
Addressing a joint press conference of the INDIA bloc on Thursday, Vikram, president of the SP Chandigarh unit and general secretary Surinder Thakur, along with Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky, AAP campaign committee chairman in the city Chandermukhi and Tewari, said the alliance was firmly footed in Chandigarh and will win with a record margin.
Vikram said only the Congress could fight the sectarian and divisive politics and policies of the BJP. He said the entire rank and file of the SP had already joined the Congress campaign in their respective areas.
He claimed that SP had a significant support base among the people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who were settled in Chandigarh for a long time.
Senior SP leaders, including Radheyshyam Yadav, Swami Yadav, Ram Murat Yadav, Harvinder Singh, Gurdial Singh and Pankaj Yadav, were also present on the occasion.
