Sarna’s Shiromani Akali Dal bats for Congress in Delhi

New Delhi: To counter the BJP-Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) alliance, SAD (Delhi) came out in the open on Thursday to show solidarity with Congress. SAD (Delhi), which had been in control of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) till this January, appealed to the Sikh community to vote for Congress in the December 4 assembly polls.

SAD (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna took a dig at the main opposition, BJP, for ousting sitting MLA Harsharan Singh Balli at Hari Nagar and fielding a non-Sikh candidate from the community stronghold. Congress has fielded Balli from the same seat.

For the first time, SAD (Badal), which is in power at DSGMC, is fighting the elections on its own symbol from two seats, Rajouri Garden and Hari Nagar. At Kalkaji and Shahdara, its candidates will contest on the BJP symbol.

To counter the growing presence of SAD (Badal), Sarna spoke of the September 16 Sikh meet at Talkatora Stadium where the party mobilized the community. The outfit had used the platform to criticize BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, for "coldshouldering" minorities, and SAD (Badal) patron and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for supporting him.

SAD (Delhi), which has been ousted from DSGMC after 11 years, is struggling to make its presence felt in the capital. Sarna, the former DSGMC chief, attacked Modi on the issue of Sikh farmers in Gujarat. Sikh farmers who have been cultivating land in Kutch for decades now face eviction.