Several BJP leaders join SAD in Batala

Amritsar, December 15

In Batala, several senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday joined the SAD in the presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former cabinet minister Anil Joshi.

The SAD leaders claimed that BJP was today wiped out in Batala with the former president of the Batala municipal corporation, Naresh Mahajan, besides nine former councillors and two sitting councillors — Suman Handa and Sudha Mahajan— joining the SAD.

The others who left BJP included former vice-president of the Batala BJP mandal, former BJP district president, office-bearers of the party’s Kisan Morcha, Beopar Mandal, Yuva Morcha, OBC cell, former vice-president of the Senior Citizen Cell and office-bearers of the Truckers’ Association.

Welcoming the leadership of the BJP Batala unit into the party, Sukhbir Badal said, “I assures you that I am committed to peace and communal harmony as well as rapid development and ensuring social welfare benefits reach one and all.” He thanked the BJP leaders for reposing faith in the SAD and assured them due regard and respect in the party.

Former Batala municipal corporation president Naresh Mahajan said that they were convinced about the secular nature of the SAD and felt that SAD alone could take Punjab forward.

He appreciated the efforts taken by former president Parkash Singh Badal in ushering peace and communal harmony in the state by forging Hindu-Sikh unity. He said Sukhbir Badal was taking this forward and this was the reason why the entire leadership of Batala BJP had reposed faith in him.

Former minister Anil Joshi said that Punjabis were feeling betrayed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and have decided to support the SAD to bring back the era of peace and rapid development. He thanked the Batala BJP unit for joining the SAD.