If this is such an issue, then why did people make Parkash Singh Badal CM five times? It is trust.” In an interview with BBC Punjabi, Sukhbir Singh Badal responded to these allegations by saying, “It is the people who decide who to elect. These issues weighed on the party in the 2017 assembly elections, when it won just 15 seats. It is pertinent to mention here that the SAD still carries the baggage of the 2015 sacrilege incidents and Behbal Kalan firing case, increase in the drug trade, and allegations of mafia involvement in sand mining and transport. He and several other veteran leaders had quit the party at that time. In 2019, Dhindsa had called for the SAD to be “liberated” from the control of the Badal family. They are campaigning with money amassed through illegal means.” During Prime Minister Modi’s rally in Jalandhar on February 14, Dhindsa said in his address, “The SAD is confined to ‘Badal-Akali Dal’. They should understand that this is one of the reasons why many SAD veterans have left the party in the past few years.”įormer SAD leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, now the leader of SAD (Sanyukt) that is contesting elections in an alliance with the BJP and Amarinder’s Punjab Lok Congress, has also attacked the Badals. But his wife was chosen instead,” said Amrik Singh, a farmer from Dhilwan in Kapurthala district.Īnother elderly man, Karamjit Singh from Nawanshahr Grain market, said, “The SAD has become the ‘Jagir’ of Badals, which is an injustice to the glorious past of the Akalis. “If Bikram Majithia had decided to contest from Amritsar East, he could have fielded a party worker from Majitha. This is why it was reduced to third position in 2017. Kirtan Singh, a truck driver from Sultanwind in Amritsar, also took a dig at the Badals and said, “They have bahumat (majority) in the SAD, what else can one expect from them? SAD is no more a party of principles rather an apt example of dynasty rule. A third general of Badals is here to rule us.” While AAP candidate Jagdeep Kamboj raised allegations of ‘dynasty politics’ in his speeches, voters say, “Our children are unemployed. Recently, Sukhbir Badal’s daughter and son also campaigned for their father in Jalalabad, which evoked a sharp reaction not only from his rivals but voters too. She was serving as a Union minister in the Narendra Modi government but resigned in 2020 over the now-repealed three farm laws. On the other hand, Sukhbir’s wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal is a three-time MP from Bathinda. Parkash Singh Badal’s son-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon is contesting from the Patti assembly seat in the Tarn Taran district. Kairon is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Partap Singh Kairon and has earlier served as a cabinet minister. While Parkash Badal is contesting from the Lambi seat in Sri Muktsar Sahib district, his son Sukhbir is contesting from Jalalabad in Fazilka. Bikram Singh Majithia, who is Sukhbir’s brother-in-law, is contesting from the Amritsar East constituency while his wife, debutant Ganieve Kaur, is contesting from her husband’s home turf, the Majitha assembly segment. The Badal family has been facing this allegation for the past over one decade, particularly after coming to power in 2007.Īhead of the February 20 assembly polls, the family continues to face this allegation – this time, even more members of the Badal family are in the fray. While Mayawati’s words may resonate with SAD leaders, there is a section of voters that feels the party has been reduced to Badal’s fiefdom, raising questions over dynasty politics. Both Sukhbir Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal are also working hard to ensure the victory of the SAD-BSP alliance.” This is the reason why he is also contesting the election. He may be old now but his desire to serve the people is still there. Mayawati said, “Parkash Singh Badal was chief minsiter of Punjab many times. Jalandhar: At a rally in Nawanshahr district on February 8, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati lauded former the patriarch of her alliance partner, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Parkash Singh Badal for his seva bhav (will to serve) at the ripe age of 94.
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