Denied ticket by AAP, ex-minister Balbir Bath goes back to Akali Dal

Terming it a homecoming, Bath, a three-time MLA from the Sri Hargobindpur assembly segment, said: “Akali Dal is my parent party. I had some difference of opinion with party leaders which have been resolved now.” He called AAP anti-Sikh and anti-Punjab.

After being denied ticket from the Batala assembly constituency, former Akali minister Capt Balbir Singh Bath, who had joined the Aam Adami Party a few months back, again joined the Akali Dal in the presence of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal here on Tuesday.

Capt Balbir Singh Bath with a robe of honour given by CM Parkash Singh Badal, who welcomed him back into the SAD at Batala on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

Terming it a homecoming, Bath, a three-time MLA from the Sri Hargobindpur assembly segment, said: “Akali Dal is my parent party. I had some difference of opinion with party leaders which have been resolved now.”

Calling AAP anti-Sikh and anti-Punjab, Bath said: “The party leadership has a dictatorial mindset. I felt suffocated in the AAP because the top leadership remained inaccessible to workers.”

Bath had joined the AAP on April 14 this year. At that time, Bath was quoted as saying “he was feeling unwanted in the Akali Dal as it was ignoring loyal workers”. He had also said that the Badals were treating the SAD like their personal outfit.