Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday faced a rebellion from within as party legislator Manpreet Singh Ayali refused to abide by the party’s decision to support NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu. Announcing to boycott the presidential elections, held on Monday, citing the “wrongs” committed to Punjab, Ayali minced no words to call for leadership change in the Akali Dal.
Ayali, who abstained from voting in the Presidential election even as the two other SAD MLAs — Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi and Ganieve Majithia — voted for Murmu, said that he was not consulted by his party leadership before deciding to back the NDA candidate.
Akali Dal has three legislators in the 117-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha. “Listening to the sentiments of the Sikh community, the issues of Punjab and the voice of my conscience, I am not voting for the candidate of any party in the presidential election today,” said Ayali in a Facebook post. He said that he is boycotting the poll on his own as the party leadership did not consult him before deciding to extend support to Murmu. At the same time, he made it clear that he had no opposition to Murmu’s candidature.
“I have nothing against her... “But when the party decided to vote for the BJP candidate, I was not consulted. Even the Sikh community was not consulted,” he said, adding that there was no question of supporting Congress candidate because of the atrocities committed by the party on the Sikhs and Punjabis.
Alleging that there had always been discrimination against Punjab, Ayali said that the BJP-led Government at the Centre has also failed to do justice to Punjab by denying the state its rights, including Punjab’s rights over Chandigarh and the issue of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.
Ayali, who represents Dakha assembly segment and is a three-time MLA, said that the result of the wrong decisions taken earlier by the party’s top leadership is that the party has won only three seats in the 2022 Assembly elections.
“Now is the time for changes in the leadership, as recommended by the party committee- formed by the Akali Dal to analyse reasons for its rout in the Assembly elections, to strengthen the SAD,” he said.