SAD to contest Ludhiana (West) byelection

A meeting of the parliamentary board of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday decided that the party will contest the Ludhiana (West) bypoll and Zila Parishad/Panchayat Samiti elections.

This would be the first election to be contested by the party after the Akal Takht declared most of its leadership “tankhaiya” because of religious misconduct.

Party spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema said the party would announce its candidate when the Election Commission declares the dates of the bypoll. He said AAP had announced its candidate early only to fulfil the wish of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

He said the party had also asked its leaders and cadres to file their claims/objections for SGPC elections for which the last date was March 15. He said the party also deliberated on the response received from the Gurdwara Election Commission on non-inclusion of Singh/Kaur with names of the voters as it was mandatory according to “gurmat maryada”.

He said the party would seek legal opinion on the matter and re-approach the commission on the issue.