Un­able to bear the strain any­more of the Akali Dal hav­ing gone astray from its man­dated path of up­hold­ing the Akali spirit of truth­ful­ness and re­spect the ideals of the party, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, vet­eran Akali par­lia­men­tar­ian, sec­re­tary-gen­eral of the party, sit­ting Ra­jya Sabha mem­ber, a for­mer Union Min­is­ter, con­science-keeper, hung up his boots by re­sign­ing from all party posts of the Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shi­ro­mani Akali Dal. 

In his res­ig­na­tion let­ter to party pres­i­dent Sukhbir Singh Badal, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has said that, “I have served the party to the best of my abil­ity and I am grate­ful to the party for the ho­n­our be­stowed on me.” He added that, “It is time in my life to take stock of the sit­u­a­tion.” He ac­knowl­edged the lead­er­ship of Sant Harc­hand Singh Lon­gowal and Parkash Singh Badal. 

With­out al­leg­ing any­thing against any­one, he has cited health rea­sons to be­come in­ac­tive and re­sign from all posts in­clud­ing that of the Sec­re­tary Gen­eral of the party and the high­est de­ci­sion-mak­ing core com­mit­tee of the Badal Dal. 

Not will­ing to make a com­plete break­through, he has cho­sen to re­main a pri­mary mem­ber of the party. 

He was one of the pil­lars of what­ever lit­tle de­mo­c­ra­tic func­tion­ing was left in the feu­dal Akali Dal. Known to stand up for what is right within the party, he went along the party but made him­self heard from time to time. Yet, the party over­shad­owed him and he toed the line. How­ever his si­lence used to say it all. 

Re­act­ing to the Lud­hi­ana MLA Simara­jit Singh Bains of the Lok In­saaf Party has wel­comed the res­ig­na­tion and has ap­pealed to other mem­bers of the party to fol­low suit and save their con­science from prick­ing them. Speak­ing to WSN, he added that, “Akali Dal is not the fief­dom of the Badals. It is a party of mar­tyrs and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has taken the right step.”

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Dal Khalsa Spokesper­son Kan­warpal Singh said, “More than his phys­i­cal health, it is the po­lit­i­cal heath of the party which is the prime rea­son for res­ig­na­tion of Sar­dar Dhindsa from party posts. It is an in­di­ca­tion of the times to come as the pre­sent dis­mal state of the party spells doom for the party.” “Ob­vi­ously, all is not well.” he added.

Chandi­garh, 29 Sep­tem­ber 2018, WSN News­desk