Badal relative joins Taksalis

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 14

Akali leader Harsukhinder Singh, alias Babi Badal, who also is a relative of Parkash Singh Badal, on Thursday joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali).

At a press conference, party president Ranjit Singh Brahmpura welcomed Babbi and announced that he had been appointed president of the Youth Akali Dal (Taksali). Brahmpura said Babbi had been associated with SAD for 25 years. “It is not only a jolt for SAD but it is also a personal loss for the Badal family,” he said.

Earlier, party candidate from Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency Birdevinder Singh said his father had made great sacrifices for the party and had remained in jail during Emergency and Punjabi Suba Morcha.

Babbi Badal said he got associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal during the Giddarbaha byelection in 1995 and remained at various positions with the party when even it had witnessed rough patches. “But the way the SAD leadership has boycotted the SIT probe, it has hurt people. It means they don’t want the truth to come out,” he said. He also attacked SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia for allegedly aspiring to create his own group within the Akali Dal.