Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said the party has kept the doors open to welcoming back rebels who left in recent years, provided they return with a "clear heart" and are committed to strengthening the SAD.
Speaking to reporters during a campaign event for the SAD candidate contesting the upcoming Ludhiana West assembly bypoll, Badal said, rebel Akalis would be taken back into the SAD fold provided they "come back with a clear heart and work to strengthen the party and follow its principles and philosophy.
The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. The date for the bypoll is yet to be announced. AAP has fielded Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, while the Congress has named former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu as its candidate.
Appealing to voters, Badal urged the electorate to support the SAD in order to "end gangster culture and the drug menace" plaguing the state.
Addressing the mediapersons at the residence of SAD candidate Parupkar Singh Ghumman, Badal said, "The people of the state have experimented with both the Congress and AAP. Punjab has witnessed a steep decline in all parameters and now the situation has become such that even the common man is not safe."
Asserting that only the SAD could safeguard the interests of Punjabis, he said, "We are the true heirs of the state unlike the fly by night operators in other parties. If Punjab goes down, the loss is ours. I appeal to you to strengthen the party in the forthcoming by-election to lay the foundation for the next SAD government in 2027."
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