Former Akali Dal MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan joins Dhindsa camp in Bathinda

Former Youth Akali Dal leader Bhola Singh Gillpatti also joined the rebel camp while Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa claimed Sukhbir Singh Badal is running the party like a dictator

In a setback to the Bathinda unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the home turf of the Badals, former member of Parliament (MP) Paramjit Kaur Gulshan and former Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leader Bhola Singh Gillpatti, along with their supporters, have joined the camp of rebel Akali leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Saturday.

Former SAD MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan with rebel Akali leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in Bathinda on Saturday. (HT PHOTO)

Gulshan is a Dalit leader who represented Bathinda in 2009, when it was a reserved constituency, and Faridkot in 2014 as a SAD candidate.

Her father, the late Dhanna Singh Gulshan, was elected as the MLA on four occasions and elected twice as an MP. Dhanna was also a Union minister during the Janta Party’s rule in 1977.

Dhindsa said that many other SAD leaders from Bathinda district are in touch and plan to join him. He said that his fight is aimed at “saving the real Akali Dal from the Badals as the party has been compromising on its principles”.

He said that SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has been “running the party like a dictator”. The leader also clarified that he has no plans to contest any polls.