Akali Dal slams rebels for visiting separatist Amritpal Singh’s house

Chandigarh, July 1

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today scoffed at the rebel Akali group for visiting the house of radical leader Amritpal Singh before meeting the Akal Takht Jatehdar in Amritsar.

They met his parents at Jallupur Khera village. The rebels had, at a press conference in Chandigarh last week, said they would seek support of Panthic leaders, including Amritpal, for “saving” the Akali Dal. Amritpal is presently a detainee under the National Security Act (NSA) in the Dibrugarh jail, Assam.

The rebel leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, Jagir Kaur, Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Gurpartap Singh Wadala, submitted a letter listing mistakes and wrong decisions made during the SAD-BJP rule between 2007 and 2017 to Akal Takht.

SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said it was surprising to see the rebels had announced that they would pay obeisance at Akal Takht to seek forgiveness for their errors, but before that they reached the house of newly elected Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal to meet his family. “This showed, for them, politics was above Akal Takht,” he said.

The Akali Dal working committee had also urged them to come to the party forum to discuss every issue instead of going to the media, he said.

Meanwhile, the SC wing of the party today rallied behind SAD president Sukhbir Badal even as wing leaders declared not even a single SC leader was with the rebels.

Addressing mediapersons, its president Gulzar Singh Ranike, former minister Sohan Singh Thandal and Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi said the cadre of the SC wing attended this meeting and expressed confidence in the leadership.