SAD chief Sukhbir Badal calls meeting of party's district presidents on July 6

SAD Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has called a meeting of his party's district presidents on Thursday to discuss the Bhagwant Mann government's ''non-performance'' on various fronts and its ''interference'' in gurdwara matters.

The meeting has been called amid a buzz in political circles that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP may reunite ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The SAD had walked out of the BJP-led NDA and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned as Union minister in September 2020 over the now-repealed three farm laws.
SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema, however, did not give any credence to the buzz and said Badal will discuss public issues, the AAP government's ''non-performance'' and its interference in gurdwara affairs at the Thursday meeting.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring claimed that the SAD and the BJP never really parted ways. The SAD pulling out of the BJP-led NDA over the farmers' issue was a ''drama'' and it remains to be seen when they announce joining hands again, he said.

The talks about the possibility of the SAD and the BJP joining hands again emerged after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in his June 24 rally in Chandigarh remembered Akali stalwart and former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal while paying tributes to him.

Five-time former Punjab chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal died in April aged 95.

Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh had said, ''I want to say that we respect those a lot who come into the NDA fold... But I can say that if somebody leaves the NDA and even maintains distance we do not remove them from our hearts. This is the nature of the BJP.'' Sukhbir Singh Badal, who recently returned from abroad, met some senior party leaders at his residence here on Wednesday.

SAD leader Chandumajra, who met Badal here, said the party was in an alliance with the BSP.

An alliance is forged depending on the need of two parties, he said. Asked about Rajnath Singh's comments in the rally, Chandumajra said the Union Minister was a senior parliamentarian and he shared with the people whatever was in his heart.

SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema Cheema, tweeted, ''SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has convened a meeting of all district presidents and all halqa I/Cs of the party tomorrow at the party office in Chandigarh. The party will discuss the current political situation in the state and formulate the future strategy.''