Badal decides to woo disgruntled leaders

Lily

B.R
Staff member
Chandigarh November 17:

Faced with the rising popularity of his nephew Manpreet Singh Badal, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has decided to “woo” disgruntled leaders back into the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) fold.

Sources said the Chief Minister would visit the house of former All-India Youth Akali Dal president Kiranbir Kang at Mohali tomorrow for breakfast. Kang had resigned from the post in February last following differences with SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and patron of the Youth Akali Dal Bikramjit Singh Majithia. His resignation letter had stated: “I understood that the party did not need genuine principled leaders, but weaklings.”

The sources added that last year when Kang had aired his grievances, Sukhbir was dismissive of all problems that Kang had put forth. Kang, who had earlier been the vice- president of the Youth Akali Dal, was made its president in April 2008. Just before his resignation, he had also objected to the growing “interference” of Majithia in his affairs.

The sources said Sukhbir had send messages to Kang sometime last month following which the ice was broken between the two. It is said Sukhbir had asked Kang to “forget and forgive and move ahead as a devoted soldier of the party”. It is learnt that Kang told Sukhbir that he could too have behaved the way Manpreet had done but he had continued to remain within the party and decided not to betray his leaders.

Kang was a SAD candidate for the Kharar Assembly segment in 2002 but had lost to Congress candidate Bir Devinder Singh. It remains to be seen what the Chief Minister has now offered Kang in order to woo him back into the mainstream Akali politics.

 
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