2 SAD councillors go BJP way, leave leaders jittery

Ludhiana: With two of its councillors joining Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders are worried about the party's status and performance in the upcoming MC elections. The BJP, which parted ways with the SAD is confident about victory in the MC elections, particularly after good performance in the assembly elections. The SAD camp however, is jittery.
In less than a week’s time, two councillors, Prabhjot Kaur (29) and Surjit Singh Rai (26) joined the saffron party. A few prominent leaders and former councillors have also started joining other parties.
Recently, SAD president Sukhbir Badal held a meeting with leaders from Ludhiana and snubbed the local leadership for not paying attention towards the mood of workers. SAD district president and senior councillor Harbhajan Dang though conceded that the party received a setback when its leaders joined other parties but claimed that they would handle the situation. “I was waiting for Diwali and now there will be ward-wise meetings, in which we will boost workers’ morale. We will seek applications from interested candidates for MC elections. Party president Sukhbir Badal will announce the names after consideration.”
Meanwhile, BJP district president Pushpinder Singhal said, “We are not asking anyone to join, rather people are coming to us, which shows that people have faith in the saffron party. We are not attacking any party intentionally but we will not deny those who want to be part of BJP.”