Akali Dal makes its presence felt in Haryana

Chandigarh, The Shiromani Akali Dal, which had alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana in view of the age old ties between the families of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Om Parkash Chautala, has made its presence felt in the state and once again proved that the party enjoys a sizeable vote bank in the neighbouring states.

Earlier, under the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Akali Dal had created history by re-capturing the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee after about more than a decade, dealing crushing defeat to the Delhi Akali Dal led by Paramjit Singh Sarna.

It may be mentioned that it is after a long time that the Akali Dal has once again started asserting its presence outside Punjab.

The election results have indicated that the party has facilitated the victory of INLD in at least eight Sikh dominated seats.

This has also proved that the strategy adopted by the previous Congress government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda to divide the Sikhs by creating Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee failed miserably and the Sikhs frustrated this nefarious anti-Sikh design of that party. Haryana has about 12 lakh Sikh voters, highest among other states outside Punjab. It has been conclusively proved in this election that it is the Akali Dal which continues to be the representative of the Sikhs, the party which had come into existence to articulate the concerns of this community and has been performing its historic role over the years. Sukhbir Singh Badal has added new dynamism to the party by expanding its area of influence outside Punjab.

The INLD has won more than eight seats in Sikh dominated areas including seats in Sirsa district like Sirsa, Ellenabad, Rania and Dabwali.

It was Finance Minister H S Chatha in the Hooda government who was the prime mover in the creation of the HSGMC. Ironically, his son lost to Jaswinder Singh Sandhu of the INLD. The SAD president had campaigned for Sandhu. It is abundantly that the Sikhs detested his move.

The polls have conclusively shown that the Sikh community rejected the Congress in Haryana. The Congress gambit to woo Sikhs to its side did not succeed. The SAD won the Kalianwali seat by a respectable margin and was able to successfully transfer its votes to the INLD whose candidates did well in Sikh pockets.