Ex-Congress minister joins SAD ahead of Shahkot bypoll

Former home minister Brij Bhupinder Singh Lalli quit the Congress and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal here on Friday, just 10 days ahead of the Shahkot bypoll. Terming it “a good riddance for the party”, Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, who is leading the campaign of the party for the by-election, said it was good that opportunists like Lalli got “exposed and self-exiled” at the right time. “Who is Brij Bhupinder Lalli,” Singh asked, answering himself, “Lalli is quite an unknown entity in Shahkot. Honestly, not just me, even an average Congressman does not know who is this Lalli. Lalli’s only claim to fame was getting elected in 1992 and becoming a junior and non-performing minister in the government of late Sardar Beant Singh, after which he just vanished in thin air.”

On the other hand, while addressing a joint press conference at his residence in Lohian, Lalli said he was leaving the Congress party due to undue interference of former minister Singh in the area. “I as well as other legislators and leaders had met Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and asked him to rein in Rana Gurjit but this appeal did not have any effect,” he said. Lalli added he was also disillusioned with the Congress after it gave the party ticket for Shahkot bypolls on May 28 to “a known bad element and sand mafia kingpin Hardev Singh Laadi”. “I as well as all other prominent leaders of the constituency had requested the party to give the ticket to anyone but Laadi, but it persisted on the mafia kingpin,” he said.

Demanding a CBI inquiry into a sting video, which had “exposed Laadi and proved he was an extortionist”, Lalli said the Congress candidate was a known land grabber and had registered false cases against scores of people. He also paraded a number of people who had been alleged victims of Laadi’s persecution on the occasion. The former home minister added he was distressed that the CM was inaccessible and did not meet anyone.

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Welcoming Lalli into the fold, SAD president Badal said with his entry, the party had got strengthened, not only in Shahkot, but the entire Doaba belt. “Lalli is known in the region as a bold leader who has a strong personal base. The former minister would be given an appropriate space and honour in the SAD,” he said.

Meanwhile, Singh further commented: “One can judge his (Lalli) performance and popularity from the subsequent outcome that Congress could never win this seat (Shahkot) for five consecutive terms. He cannot gather even five members for a programme. And this is the reason that such a popular leader had to join such a popular party inside the hidden confines of his own house.” The Kapurthala Congress leader said Laddi will win the by-election by a record margin of more than 50,000 votes and accomplish the “mission two-third majority” of Chief Minister Singh.