Jalandhar West bypoll: ‘Penniless’ SAD nominee Surjit seeks monetary support to contest
Surjit Kaur’s candidature was announced on June 20 after Sukhbir Badal gave a green signal to her name proposed by a panel led by Bibi Jagir Kaur and Partap Singh Wadala, who are now part of the rebel group of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
A day after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) withdrew support to its nominee for the Jalandhar West assembly bypoll, disgruntled Surjit Kaur questioned party president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s flip-flop.
Kaur’s candidature was announced on June 20 after Sukhbir gave a green signal to her name proposed by a panel led by Bibi Jagir Kaur and Partap Singh Wadala, who are now part of the rebel group of Akali Dal. Surjit will contest on Akali Dal’s symbol as the deadline for withdrawal ended on Wednesday i.e. June 26.
“The party’s decision to withdraw support came as a major humiliation. What was my fault? I was announced as a candidate by the party high command and the party symbol was allotted to me by Sukhbir Badal himself but now the party has backtracked leaving me, my family and supporters in a lurch,” she said.
Kaur added that following the announcement of her name, the party told her that it would provide financial assistance to contest the election.
“I don’t have money to contest elections and I told this to the party leaders while they were considering my candidature. Now, I will carry on my campaign only if people support me financially and morally, else I have no option but to sit at home,” Kaur said, who also appealed to the parents of Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh to support her campaign.
“I was campaigning for the past six days and suddenly on Wednesday, I was no longer the party candidate. The local leaders led by Jalandhar district president Kulwant Singh Mannan offered me the money spent on the campaigning to date. They also went to the returning officer with an application to withdraw my candidature by forging my signatures,” she said.
Kaur, along with her supporters also submitted a formal complaint with the returning officer to take legal action against Mannan and others for forging her signatures.
Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, Banga MLA Sukhwinder Sukhi, who was a part of the four-member panel announced by the party for the Jalandhar West bypoll, said that the party had duly informed Surjit about its decision.
“She agreed to withdraw her nomination form but later took a U-turn,” he said.
Meanwhile, chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann took a jibe at the SAD president for withdrawing from the electoral battle.
“Look at the condition of Akali Dal. Their symbol is with some other candidate and the party has announced support of another candidate. Is Sukhbir Badal going to hold rallies for BSP? Not at all…,” Mann said in a post on X.
BJP state president Sunil Jakhar said the people of Punjab have cut SAD to size in the recent Lok Sabha elections and Sukhbir is getting the taste of his own medicine by running away from the contest.
“Sukhbir should stop blaming BJP for all the fiasco in the Akali Dal. The party is going through a major leadership crisis,” Jakhar said.