Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was on Tuesday elected as president of SAD here for a second successive term in Amritsar. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was also elected unanimously as the patron of the party.
The general delegates’ session of SAD took place here in which the delegates elected the party president and other office bearers. Sukhbir’s name as SAD president was proposed by party senior vice-president Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and endorsed by party Secretary General Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. Sukhbir is functioning as the president of the party since January 31, 2008.
“Sukhbir Badal not only led the party through difficult times to steer it to the corridors of governmental responsibility in 2007 but also helped it to perform the feat of back-to-back victories in the Punjab Assembly elections,” a resolution adopted at the meeting stated.
At the meeting, leaders claimed it was injustice that Punjab has to share Chandigarh with Haryana and other Punjabi speaking areas were not included in the state. “These must be transferred to Punjab without any further delay,” the leaders said.
SAD also attacked the UPA government at the Centre for its alleged acts of brazen interference in the religious affairs of Sikhs. “The UPA has consistently woven conspiracies to weaken established Sikh institutions like SGPC and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee,” it said. The meeting also demanded a diversification package of Rs 10,000 crore for Punjab and major agricultural states.
Later, while addressing mediapersons, Sukhbir said Punjab’s fiscal condition was good and blamed the Centre for the poor economic condition of the country.