Barnala loyalists take out march

SANGRUR, Nov 16: The on-going tug-of-war between Shiromani Akali Dal stalwarts Surjit Singh Barnala and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was saved from...

SANGRUR, Nov 16: The on-going tug-of-war between Shiromani Akali Dal stalwarts Surjit Singh Barnala and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was saved from the flash point following the cancellation of the emergency meeting at the last moment at the behest of the party high command in view of the Adampur by-elections.

The meeting was summoned in the local Singh Sabha Gurdwara by Rajinder Singh Kanjhla, a member of the SAD working committee and a close associate of Dhindsa. Kanjhla reportedly summoned a meeting of the workers owing allegiance to their faction, in retaliation of the silent protest march taken out through the town by workers of the Barnala faction.

The protestors, which were about 250 in number, were either wearing black gowns or black scarves and were also accompanied by the Istri Akali Dal workers wearing black dupattas.

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Before resorting to a procession and demonstration, the workers held a meeting at the Singh Sabha Gurdwara where the senior leaders served an ultimatum on SAD president Parkash Singh Badal to direct Dhindsa to stop his dictatorial ways. Otherwise, they said, a batch of 101 workers wearing black gowns would march towards Badal village on November 18.

The leaders also charged that opportunistic persons like Arvind Khanna and Gurdial Singh Chatha were given senior positions in the party organisation at the behest of Dhindsa, who had joined the Congress. They alleged that money was sought even from the senior party functionaries to attain any chairmanship.

They warned that if Badal failed to take cognisance of their grievances, they would be forced to intensify their protest in other districts of the state as well.

According to the Dhindsa camp, Gurinder Pal Singh Dhanaula, former senior vice-president of the all India youth wing of SAD, was alleged to be the main person behind the scene.