SAD in trouble for the LS seat in Jalandhar

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) graph for the Jalandhar parliamentary seat seems to be declining even though the general election day in Punjab is still six weeks away.

All other parties have declared their nominees, but SAD has not yet been able to make a choice. Pawan Tinu, the party’s most outspoken dalit leader and former chief parliamentary secretary, passed away on Sunday. Along with him resigned with a dent, so did the party’s strategist Gurcharan S. Channi, the district SAD leader (urban). Gurcharan’s departure sent the message that those who had just joined the party again were uneasy and were searching for a way out once again.

Tinu has twice held the Adampur Vidhan Sabha constituency, where the Akali Dal leadership has also had a problem. Jagbir Brar, who ran in the 2022 election from the Jalandhar cantonment, is now a member of the AAP. Even in the rural areas of Jalandhar, the party is now uneasy, despite having previously experienced a serious problem in the four urban parts. Former minister and Kartarpur MLA Sarwan S. Phillaur has rejoined the party, but on Wednesday he backed former MP Sukhdev S. Dhindsa, who has been opposing Akali Dal over not being given a ticket.

In a few days, SAD president Sukhbir Badal is anticipated in Jalandhar to put an end to the insurgent, choose the candidates, and settle other matters. In the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election of 2023, the party received just around 1.58 lakh votes and came in third, even though it was in an alliance with the BSP at the time. It might get around half (3.04 lakh) of the votes that supported the AAP at that time.