Sukhdev Dhindsa merges his party SAD (Sanyukt) with SAD after 4 years
The merger took place almost four years after Dhindsa and his son, former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, were expelled from the party in February 2020 for alleged anti-party activities, after which they floated the SAD (Sanyukt)
In a boost for Akali Dal ahead of Lok Sabha polls, former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Tuesday merged his SAD (Sanyukt) with the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal.
Sukhbir reached Dhindsa’s residence in Chandigarh to formally announce the merger and declared Dhindsa as the party’s patron.
“I want Dhindsa Saab, who is a fatherly figure, to lead the party as a patron as my father (Parkash Singh Badal) was,” Sukhbir said. Sukhbir said he would welcome everyone back into the party and sought an apology from everyone again.
“Bibi (Jagir Kaur) Ji is also welcome in the party, and I am ready to bring her in with folded hands,” Sukhbir said while issuing an appeal to make SAD strong to fight opposition parties in the state.
The merger took place almost four years after Dhindsa and his son, former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, were expelled from the party in February 2020 for alleged anti-party activities, after which they floated the SAD (Sanyukt). Dhindsa Sr, a former union minister, who was virtually number two in the SAD as secretary general after the party’s patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, became critical of the party after its poor show in 2017 polls.
The merger came amid the buzz over the SAD-BJP reunion. The Akalis had quit the NDA in 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws. The SAD (Sanyukt) had contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with the BJP.
The talks for the reunion commenced in December last year after Badal sought an apology for the sacrilege incidents that took place during the Akali regime in 2015. Dhindsa’s son, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, was also present at the merger.
After the merger, Dhindsa senior said, “There was an overwhelming feeling among our leaders and workers to merge with the SAD to effect unity in the ‘Panth’.” The former Rajya Sabha member said the entire party felt that Sukhbir Singh Badal expressed heartfelt remorse for the cases of sacrilege which occurred in 2015.
“Accordingly, I called a meeting of the party’s district presidents yesterday and they gave the go-ahead for the merger. Present times demand that the SAD should be strong, which will make the ‘panth’ strong. Sukhbir Singh Badal is like my son,” Dhindsa senior said.
Last year when the talks for bringing Dhindsa back into the party fold were initiated, Dhindsa senior asked Sukhbir to seek an apology from the Punjabis and Sikhs in particular for the sacrilege incidents that took place in 2015 during the Akali-BJP government. On December 14 last year, Sukhbir sought an apology for failing to nab the culprits behind the sacrilege.
“Dhindsa Saab wants to strengthen Shiromani Akali Dal, the representative body of the Sikhs and form a united force to take up the issues of Punjab, Punjabi and the Sikhs,” Parminder Dhindsa said, on merging SAD (Sanyukt) with SAD.
Sukhbir keeps mum on tie-up with BJP
Sukhbir refused to comment on the possibility of an alliance with BJP and termed it as “mere hearsay.” He said the party was still in alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).