Shiromani Akali Dal, member of Parliament (MP) Ranjit Singh Brahmpura resigned from all party posts on Tuesday citing advanced age and health grounds.
Addressing a press conference in Amritsar, Brahmpura (81), who was second to former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in seniority and age, said he is quitting as senior vice-president and core committee member but would continue to serve the party as a ‘soldier’.
Earlier, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had resigned from all positions of the party.
The veteran leader cited ‘advancing age and deteriorating health’ as the reasons for quitting the party.
Dhindsa, who was the secretary general of the SAD and a member of the party’s core committee, had submitted his resignation to party president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The MP from Khadoor Sahib, Brahmpura admitted he was unhappy and unfortunate to be part of the Akali Dal on two devastating issues, which include flip-flop decision to pardon Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Barghari sacrilege incidents.
Earlier this month, Brahmpura along with two other Akali stalwarts former minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan and former MP Rattan Singh Ajnala had expressed their dismay at the sad state of affairs in the party.
“All is not well in the party. This is reason we have come together to raise the issue,” they said at a joint press conference without directly naming anyone.
On 16 October, the three party veterans from Majha —Brahmpura, Ajnala and Sekhwan had paid obeisance at the Golden Temple and apologised for what they termed as their “past mistakes”.
The Akali Dal is passing through a tough political phase in recent memory following the former chief minister Badal’s indictment by the Ranjit Singh Commission, which looked into sacrilege cases and subsequent firing by cops on Sikh protesters in 2015, for the police action at Kotkapura.
Dissenting voices against the leadership have emerged ever since the party decided to boycott the debate on the commission’s report in the Assembly. The SAD leadership is also being blamed for the Akal Takht pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda chief in blasphemy case.