Ahead of the Parliamentary elections, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) merged his party with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) led by Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday in Chandigarh.
Terming the merger as a joint responsibility to bring Punjab back on the rails, Mr. Dhindsa said, “There was an overwhelming feeling among our leaders and workers to merge with the SAD to effect unity in the ‘panth’ (Sikhs). Moreover, the entire party felt that Sukhbir Singh Badal expressed heartfelt remorse for the cases of sacrilege which occurred in 2015. Accordingly, I called a meeting of the party’s district presidents yesterday and they gave the go-ahead for the merger,” he said.
Mr. Badal termed the merger as a “merger of two families”, and appealed to Mr. Dhindsa to take on responsibility as patron of the SAD since he was the senior most Akali leader. Mr. Badal also appealed to all SAD leaders who had left the party on one or another pretext, to re-join it saying, “The SAD alone is capable of safeguarding the aspirations of Punjabis”.
