Badals shift base to Delhi

After its victory in the Punjab Assembly elections, the SAD has now shifted its focus to Delhi, where election to the 46-member Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is scheduled to be held by end of January.

In a politically savvy move, the party leadership led by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has turned the electoral battle into a SAD versus Congress battle. And, if proof was required of how seriously the SAD is taking the ensuing election, almost all senior leaders, including many ministers and party MPs, are camping in Delhi for the last many days to canvass for votes.

Leading the campaign is Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is addressing 4-5 meetings every day. His son and heir-apparent, Sukhbir, is also doing the same. At the centre of their verbal attack is Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the Union Home Ministry and senior functionaries, including ministers of the Delhi government.

Apart from the alleged irregularities by the Sarna brothers — current DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna and his brother Harvinder — during their reign at the DSGMC, including the charge of having allegedly siphoned off gurdwara funds, the Badals don't forget to talk about the role played by the Congress in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Sikhs have not forgotten how many of our own were butchered by Congress goons in 1984. So far, the Sarnas, who have the overt and covert support of the Central and Delhi governments and senior Congress leaders, were not facing any challenge due to our preoccupation with Punjab. But, now that we have completely decimated the Congress in Punjab, our focus is Delhi, beginning with the DSGMC election," Sukhbir Badal told The Indian Express on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, senior SAD leaders had a strategy meeting at the residence of former Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhinda.

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