Barnala’s Akali Dal to merge with Cong
Saturday, 16/04/2016
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NEW DELHI: The Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) headed by former Punjab chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala’s wife will merge in the Congress, with a formal announcement to be made by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Punjab on Saturday.
The decision to merge the outfit with the Congress came after the Barnala family met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Delhi on Thursday.
Among those who met Sonia were SAD (Longowal) president Surjit Kaur Barnala, her son and outfit general secretary Gaganjit Singh Barnala and Gaganjit’s son Simar Partap Barnala. Simar Pratap had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Dhuri assembly bypoll on Congress symbol. “We have decided to merge out party with Congress unconditionally,” Gaganjit Barnala told PTI, adding that a formal announcement “will most likely be made on Saturday”.
The merger is viewed as a move to strengthen the anti-SAD-BJP sentiment and to counter the growing influence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab.
Surjit Singh Barnala, along with Harchand Singh Longowal, had signed an accord with then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s for bringing peace to Punjab during the troubled times of militancy.
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s estranged nephew Manpreet Singh Badal earlier joined Congress and merged his outfit People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) with it. Congress general secretary and in-charge of Punjab affairs, Shakeel Ahmad too said the announcement “is likely on Saturday”. The Barnalas share a good rapport with state Congress chief Amarinder Singh and this has helped in initiating the merger move ahead of Punjab assembly elections.
Sources said Simar Pratap Barnala is likely to be the party candidate from Dhuri, a seat represented by Gaganjit Barnala once.
