Fresh blow to Sukhbir Badal, left with 2 MLAs as senior leader moves to AAP

There could be further trouble for the SAD ahead, with Ayali too showing signs of disgruntlement and skipping party meetings in recent days.

After joining the AAP, Sukhi said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has pledged to set up a medical college in his constituency besides assuring him that the pending development work there would be taken up.

SAD sources told The Indian Express that Sukhi had been in touch with the AAP leaders for a while now and even had a few meetings with the CM.

For the AAP, Sukhi’s induction comes as a boost.

Sukhi’s constituency Banga is situated in the Doaba Punjab region. Of the 23 Assembly seats here, the AAP won only 10 seats in the 2022 polls. The AAP is considered to be stronger in the Malwa region, where it won 66 of the 69 seats in the Assembly elections.

Bhagat Singh’s birthplace Khatkar Kalan is also located in Banga, with the AAP saying that Sukhi’s induction holds a symbolic value for the party.

Sukhi, who has built up his base in Banga as an ENT doctor, is also a former member of the SAD core committee.

After inducting Sukhi into its fold, the AAP hopes to get another seat in the region in the event of the Banga bypoll following his resignation. Banga has also been a SAD stronghold, with the party winning it multiple times in the recent past.

In May 2023, Sukhi had also contested the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election on the SAD’s ticket. However, he finished third, with the AAP’s Sushil Kumar Rinku winning the bypoll.

On Sukhi’s exit, SAD spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler told The Indian Express,”In a democracy, everyone has the right to join anywhere they want. However, people of Banga had voted for the Akali Dal so he must resign from the Assembly now and go back to the masses to seek votes yet again.”

Meanwhile, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, who is the convener of the rebel Akali Dal faction (Sudhar Lehar), said that people do not have confidence in the Badal-led outfit.

The Akali Dal (Sudhar Lehar) was floated in July this year by the SAD’s dissident leaders, who claimed they wanted to “strengthen” the 103-year-old party, charging that the party’s situation under the current leadership indicated that its “existence is in danger”.

A month earlier, a group of these leaders rebelled against Badal, demanding that he step down as the SAD chief in the wake of the party’s debacle in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

The SAD rebels include ex-MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, ex-MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, and former ministers Sikandar Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sarwan Singh Phillaur and Surjit Singh Rakhra, among others.