Nitish Sharma
Tribune News Service
Ambala, June 29
The Janta Akali Dal (JAD) has decided to also contest Lok Sabha elections in the state. Earlier, the outfit had announced that it would contest Assembly elections on 29 seats in 11 districts.
Speaking to The Tribune over the phone on Friday, JAD chief Jagdish Singh Jhinda said, “Earlier, we had decided to contest Assembly elections only but now, we will contest the Lok Sabha elections too. The JAD will contest four seats — Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Sirsa. The party has been preparing the ground for the Assembly elections, but we can’t let leaders and voters go away to other parties during the Lok Sabha elections. Hence, this decision has been taken.”
Jhinda, who is also the president of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, had floated the party in June last year.
“The decision was taken recently during the executive body meeting of the party. The district chiefs of all 11 targeted districts have been appointed and they have been asked to form block-level committees,” Jhinda said.
“These four parliamentary seats in Haryana have a sizeable presence of Sikh voters. Sikhs can play a decisive role in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. We are aware that we alone are not in a position to win the elections. But it is an attempt to mark our presence. The party has nothing to lose, but the Shiromani Akali Dal, which has been claiming to be a major party, will suffer a major blow if it fails to gain votes from the Sikhs of Haryana,” he said.
“The SAD and BJP have been trying to divide Sikh voters in the state. Everything is being done at behest of the BJP,” he claimed.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2tGxRn8
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