HEART OF PUNJAB: To resign as legislator or not, Dr Sukhi still in a quandary

Deepkamal Kaur

On August 14, two-time Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA from Banga Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi surprised everyone as he jumped ship to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Even though four days have passed, he has neither officially resigned from the SAD nor has he submitted his papers to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker. Dr Sukhi said, “I am in no hurry. If I have joined the AAP, it is presumed that I have done so by quitting the SAD. I am yet to consult expert lawyers on whether I need to resign or can continue as an MLA in the given circumstances.”

As the Banga legislator continues to weigh all options, legal experts opine that the SAD could move an anti-defection application before the Vidhan Sabha Speaker to get him dislodged.

“Anti-defection law is very much applicable in this case. The only condition for the law to remain ineffective will be if either of the remaining two SAD MLAs (Manpreet Singh Ayali or Ganieve Kaur Majithia) also follow in the footsteps of Dr Sukhi,” said a Jalandhar-based lawyer Parminder Vig. SAD chief spokesperson Arshdeep Kler said, “Dr Sukhi’s resignation from the Akali Dal is a non-issue for us for we all know that he has now joined the AAP. Ethically, he must submit his resignation to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker. We will wait for another 10-15 days and then decide our next move.”

Dr Sukhi is learnt to have sought time from former MP and Supreme Court lawyer Satya Pal Jain on Monday.

The political circles are abuzz whether the fifth Assembly bypoll would be held in Punjab or not. The four others include Barnala, Chabbewal, Gidderbaha and Dera Baba Nanak.

With Dr Sukhi on their side, the AAP is riding high on not just having dented the prospects of the Akali Dal further but also on the fact that it has got another educated Dalit face in Doaba. He is the second SC medico to be inducted into the party after Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, former Congress MLA and now AAP MP from Hoshiarpur. Speculations are also rife that Dr Sukhi had joined the AAP on a commitment that he would get a ministerial berth.

“I have not asked anything for myself,” he said amid reports that he had been inducted on the persistence of AAP national general secretary Sandeep Pathak. Dr Sukhi had also met Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at his residence in March as well.

Though Dr Sukhi is flooded with phone calls and messages from AAP leaders, he makes sure that he spares some time to attend to serious patients who are undergoing treatment at his private hospital in Nawanshahr.

“However busy I may get, I will never quit my primary profession. There can be good or bad days in politics but I will continue to be a medical professional. Whatever I am today is because of the goodwill that I have earned being a doctor,” he quipped. By inducting the Banga MLA, AAP has also compensated for the loss of two Dalit leaders — former Jalandhar Lok Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Rinku and former Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural — who had quit the party five months ago.

The AAP had roped in former Akali MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha election but he stood on the third position. Both Tinu and Dr Sukhi were BSP leaders prior to joining the SAD and got elected twice to the Vidhan Sabha. This makes SAD leaders from Doaba apprehensive that another leader with a similar background could be next in line to switch parties.