Sukhbir gets one step closer

In a testimony to Sukhbir’s growing clout in the party, the gathered delegates even sought amendment in the party’s Constitution to stretch the tenure of the party head to five years from the existing three years. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the General House to be sent to Election Commission of India for the necessary changes.

As expected, there was no opposition to his election and senior party leaders tried to outdo one another in heaping praises on the Badal Junior.

Later, Sukhbir, said the party would not confine itself to Punjab but explore the outside world for a national role. “Wherever there are Punjabis, we should be there. We will fight for their concerns and causes and will thus strengthen the party’s network outside the state too,” he said, adding that he had inherited the politics of service.

Earlier, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, president of the party who was elevated to the rank of a patron, chaired the session which was stage-managed by his political adviser Daljit Singh Cheema. SAD(B)’s patron and veteran Akali leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi was also present , besides former SGPC head and ex-Minister Bibi Jagir Kaur both of whom honoured Sukhbir with siropas. Sukhbir touched his father’s feet and said all senior leaders were like a father figure to him.

A sombre Badal warned his son that the crown he wore was made of not just flowers but thorns too. Advising him to take all party leaders along, Badal said unity was paramount to the organisational strength of the party.

Sukhbir, who represents the modern and urban face of SAD (B), was elected the acting chief of the party only 10 months back after the party’s victory in the February Assembly polls. He has become the youngest party president and it’s for the first time in the 87-year-long history of the party, second oldest in the country, that the father is the CM and son the party president.

Sukhbir, who boasts of a management degree from the US, is largely given the credit of transforming a largely panthic party into a Punjabi organisation.

Elected to the Lok Sabha first in 1996, Sukhbir has been a member of the Lower House thrice. He has also been member of Rajya Sabha once and served as a Minister of State in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime. General Secretary of the party for over ten years, he is known for the organisational capabilities.

Reactions

“It’s a welcome development. Punjab has got a young energetic leader to lead the party. It will surely benefit the alliance between the BJP and the SAD. We wish him all the luck.”

— Balbir Punj,Punjab BJP in-charge

“It’s an internal matter of SAD (B). It’s all within the family. After all, it’s a family party”.

— Rajinder K Bhattal,Punjab Cong chief