SAD (Haryana) president flayed on Kurukshetra seat reservation

AMBALA, January 7: The Didar Singh Habri-led parallel Haryana State Akali Dal, while criticising the Shiromani Akali Dal (Haryana) president Sukhdev Singh Gobindgarh, for making a demand for reservation of the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat for the SAD candidate, viewed the demand as an insult to the Sikhs as well as the Haryana Akali Dal as the Sikhs in the state had not decided to extend support to any of the parties.

Habri, alongwith other leading Dal leaders, in a rejoinder to the SAD, stated that the Sikhs in the state were free to vote for any party according to their choice. The SAD (Haryana) president Sukhdev Singh, who had a dubious character, the statement said, had raised the issue of seeking election from Kurukshetra to strike a bargain with other parties for the Ambala assembly constituency from where he was aspiring to seek a ticket in the ensuing elections.

Terming the statement as misleading and mischievous, Habri stated that the SAD was the only body to take any decision with regard to getting any seat reserved for the Sikh candidate.

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He further alleged that Sukhdev Singh had attempted to blackmail the leaders of other parties, especially the BJP with whom he was not authorised to have a dialogue.

He appealed to the SAD president Parkash Singh Badal to leave Haryana Sikhs on their own to take decision about their participation in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Habri also scoffed at the plea that the SAD would fight elections from five constituencies of Kurukshetra, Karnal, Ambala, Faridabad and Sirsa, if they were not offered the Kurukshetra seat by the HVP-BJP alliance and withdrew the HVP candidate Jatinder Singh, already announced.