Akalis blame Langah episode for defeat

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Badal (Muktsar), October 21

A majority of Akali leaders today blamed the Sucha Singh Langah episode for the party’s loss in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha byelection.

The SAD today held its core committee meeting under the leadership of party patron and former CM Parkash Singh Badal at Badal village here. In the three-hour luncheon meeting, some senior leaders told party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to keep a check on “extreme powers” given to some leaders.

A senior SAD leader said it was decided to rectify all these things and start preparations for the 2019 parliamentary elections. The leaders decided to celebrate the party’s 100th anniversary in 2020 in a big way.

The SAD leadership rejected the state government’s notification on farm debt waiver, saying the Congress had backtracked on its commitment to implement Rs 90,000-debt waiver. The party expressed deep concern over the “rising” incidents of farmer suicides.

The leaders condemned the government for burdening the common man by introducing a municipal tax equivalent to 2 per cent of power bills in municipal areas, besides increasing external development charges and other services provided by the municipalities. They also asked the government to immediately lower VAT on petrol and diesel.

The party asked the government to waive its share of the GST on the items used for ‘karah parshad’ at the Golden Temple. It also asked the government to withdraw the license fee imposed on tractors being used for haulage.

Want ‘excess’ powers to leaders clipped

During the SAD core committee meeting, some senior leaders told party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to keep a check on "extreme powers" given to some leaders. A senior SAD leader claimed: "The SAD-BJP workers in Gurdaspur were not much enthused. There was an atmosphere of fear."