SAD Committee Places Faith in Badal’s leadership, Flays Kangana Ranaut

On 13 Jun, the SAD core committee met to take stock of the party's performance in the recent general election. SAD won one out of the thirteen seats it contested – Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal – and its vote share has come down to 13.42% – it has come fourth or worse in all others. Recently Charanjit Singh Brar, Officer on Special Duty to Sukhbir Singh Badal also posted an open letter on social media (now removed) saying, ‘the party should tender a written apology to Akal Takht and accept punishment for controversial decisions taken in the past by leadership.’ Yet, the core committee has rallied behind the party president Badal. In a resolution, the party expressed concern over the growing communal polarization in society and its abuse in politics in the country. Referring to newly elected MP from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Kangana Ranaut, the party said, ‘While the party does not approve of resorting to violence, Kangana must be held accountable for her abusive, humiliating and rabidly communal utterances, which caused deep emotional hurt that led to the unfortunate incident at the airport. Kulwinder Kaur’s alleged action must not be seen in isolation of the circumstances that led to it.’ There seems to be no introspection and will to change. Meanwhile, after days of silence, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann spoke on the Ranaut incident. He said the Central Industrial Security Force woman constable might have slapped BJP MP Ranaut out of anger over her previous remarks on the farmer protest. Mann also called out Ranaut for drawing a parallel between Panjab and terrorism.