SAD to contest Ludhiana West bypoll, Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections; reviews recruitment drive
PTC Web Desk: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) parliamentary board, under the leadership of acting president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, on Thursday reviewed the party's ongoing recruitment drive and expressed satisfaction over the overwhelming response from Punjabis.
Sharing details of the meeting, senior Akali leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the party had issued 33 lakh recruitment slips, of which 10 lakh had been received back at the party office so far. The remaining slips were expected to arrive by tomorrow, marking the last day of the recruitment campaign, he added.
Dr Cheema said another review would be conducted on Friday, following which further decisions would be made. The party also plans to convene a district observers' meeting soon to oversee the selection of circle and district delegates, who will, in turn, elect state delegates responsible for choosing the party president.
Dr Cheema said the SAD had directed its leaders and workers to submit their claims and objections to the Gurdwara Election Commission before the March 15 deadline for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections. He said the party had deliberated on the commission's response regarding the omission of 'Singh' and 'Kaur' from voter names, deciding to seek legal counsel before approaching the commission again.
Discussing the upcoming Ludhiana bypoll and district panchayat elections, Dr Cheema said the SAD would contest whenever the election dates were announced. He flayed AAP for hastily announcing its candidate for the Ludhiana West bypoll, claiming that the move was aimed at securing a Rajya Sabha seat for party chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Dr Cheema condemned the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government for repackaging old initiatives as new policy decisions. He particularly pointed out that the decision to implement Punjabi as a mandatory subject up to Class 10 was originally taken in 2008 and implemented in 2015, during his tenure as Education Minister. He accused Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains of making misleading claims about AAP’s role in enforcing the policy.
- PTC NEWS
