Revolt in SAD: Badal Loyalists Blame BJP, BJP Responds

Amidst the recent crisis in SAD, several staunch loyalists of the Badal family – including former Rajya Sabha MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder, party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema, and senior party leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal – and Youth Akali Dal have continued to rally behind Sukhbir Singh Badal’s leadership. On 26 Jun, SAD’s lone MP from Panjab, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, said some of the ‘stooges of the BJP are trying to break the party. They want to do the same as they did in Maharashtra. The SAD is united and they are going to fail. Out of the 117 leaders, only 5 leaders are against Badal, while 112 leaders are standing with the party and Badal.’ The faction loyal to Badal hit back with district presidents and constituency in-charges passing a resolution expressing full faith in Badal’s leadership. 33 of the existing 35 district presidents and 96 of the existing 105 constituency in-charges supported the resolution. A few hours before the rebellion broke out in SAD, Panjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said that the party – with or without Sukhbir Singh Badal – was a safety valve for Panjab against the rising threat of radicalism in Panjab. After the rebellion, he said, ‘Rather than looking for a scapegoat, Akalis should accept the reality…It is the same BJP to which Badal Senior (former CM Parkash Singh Badal) used to say nahu-maas da rishta (ties like nail and flesh) and has become a pariah as they are blaming everything on the BJP. If they introspect, they will realize that the fault lies within.’