‘Trust with Badals broken’, Capt Kanwaljit’s daughter joins Cong

Though it was in making for the last several months, former SAD stalwart Capt Kanwaljit's daughter formally joined the Congress on Tuesday.

Accompanied by her supporters, Manpreet Kaur Dolly joined the Congress in the presence of MoS for External Affairs Perneet Kaur, state Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh and Leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar.

"Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had great trust on my father. That trust has broken now. I decided to join the Congress as it accords due respect to women and works in a democratic manner. I will work hard to ensure that Patiala MP Preneet Kaur wins with a higher margin in the 2014 polls," Manpreet said.

Asked whether she will be made the Dera Bassi constituency incharge, Amarinder said Manpreet joining was unconditional. "We will in due course of time give her a respectable position. She has her reasons for joining the party and in true sense, inherited the political legacy of her late father, who was a mass leader and a seasoned SAD politician. She will have a great future in the Congress as she is well qualified, competent and hardworking," he added.

Perneet Kaur, who was instrumental in bringing Manpreet to the Congress fold, said she had contested the last Assembly election as an Independent from Dera Bassi and got over 10,000 votes.

Asked about former loyalist Deepinder Dhillon switching his loyalty to SAD, Preneet said she had promoted Deepinder at the cost of other workers in Patiala.

"He joined SAD out of his free will," she said, while Amarinder added that Preneet had tried her best to get Deepinder a ticket from Dera Bassi but the final decision was taken at the top level based on other factors.

Steering clear on controversy within the family — her brother Jasjit Singh Bunny is a SAD supporter — Manpreet said: "It is a democracy and everybody has the right to make their choices. My mother is a non-political person, but I have her blessings."

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