Blaming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership for the current crisis in the party, Parminder Singh Dhindsa of the SAD (Sudhar Lehar) said they have become spineless. His remarks came during an interview with The Tribune as part of the newspaper’s digital media show, Decode Punjab.
The former Finance Minister said, “It’s a very strong word that I’m using. They are following Sukhbir (Badal) blindly. The party is virtually on its deathbed. The middle leadership should have stood up first for the party and then its leader.”
Reacting to SAD president Sukhbir Badal’s resignation after he was pronounced ‘tankhaiya’ by the Akal Takht recently, Dhindsa said, “Badal did this in a hope that the Akal Takht would reduce the quantum of the sentence.”
“Sukhbir should step aside for some time, bring in new leadership and let people come back to the Akali fold. His resignation right after the party lost the Vidhan Sabha elections would have created trust among people. No one is pushing him out of the party. He can come back anytime, but first he has to create trust among Akalis.”
SAD leaders continue to make mistakes, he said, while referring to the party’s working committee not accepting Sukhbir’s resignation. The party is not learning from the past mistakes, he stressed.
“We have not formed a separate political party. Our aim was to revive the Akali Dal and pressure the leadership to take corrective measures. I personally feel that the Akali leadership has lost credibility but people still love the party. People still want the SAD to come back, but under a different leadership,” he claimed.
“There is no leadership crisis and the SAD has many leaders who can replace Sukhbir Badal. We elected Gurpartap Singh Wadala as our convener. Can’t he replace Sukhbir? Like in the past, religious leaders can be chosen as party presidents. Sant Fateh Singh and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal gave party its ideology. They were never in the race for the post of the chief minister or any other position,” the rebel Akali leader said.
Replying to allegations of his father Sukhdev Dhindsa’s close relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at one point of time, the former minister said senior Dhindsa had a lot of hopes from the BJP and demanded a special package for the state, resolution of the issue of ‘Bandi Sikhs’ and certain confidence building measures, but he was not in talks with the party anymore.
Dhindsa said the opposition blamed the SAD for the drug menace in the state, which was wrong. “Why have next governments not been able to stop the menace? It is easily available now. So, they are equally responsible,” he said.
One big crisis Punjab faces was the return of youngsters from foreign lands, particularly Canada, in the wake of the changed rules. The state does not have any alternatives for them and there could be big trouble, said Dhindsa.