Gurdaspur
Staring at a possible split, the Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday expelled two-time minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan from the primary membership of the party minutes after the one-time fierce loyalist of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced his resignation as senior vice-president and core committee member at a press conference here.

Sekhwan was flanked by Khadoor Sahib MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, former MP Rattan Singh Ajnala and Ajnala’s son, former MLA Amarpal Singh Boney.

Sekhwan said everything was well within the party till Sukhbir Singh Badal was handed over the reins. “Slowly, but very steadily, he destroyed all the three main institutions of the Sikh Panth SGPC, SAD and the Akal Takht. Our president became so arrogant that he started calling Akal Takht jathedars home while being the Deputy Chief Minister. This eroded the authority of the jathedars, which was not liked by the Sikh community,” said Sekhwan.

“Parkash Singh Badal did me no favour by appointing me a minister. I deserved it. My father, Ujagar Singh, led the party from the front when Badal was in jail. My family has made a lot of sacrifices for the party,” he said.

To this, Daljit Singh Cheema, party spokesman, said, “Sekhwan has turned out to be a traitor. The party gave him so much, yet he decided to stab it in the back. He is a rank opportunist.

Why did he not resign when Sukhbir was elevated as party chief? Despite rank opposition, Badal decided to field him from Kahnuwan during the 2009 bypoll. He has lost four elections and holds no political relevance at all.”

Sekhwan claimed that before the 2017 polls, Sukhbir travelled to Mumbai where he made a deal with Dera Sacha Sauda. “Sukhbir asked Ram Rahim to tell his followers to vote for the party while the government would ensure the latter’s movie, ‘Messenger of God’, had a free run in cinemas of Punjab,” he claimed.