NEW DELHI—Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) headed by Bibi Surjit Kaur Barnala merged into Congress on April 17 in the presence of Congress’ state head Captain Amarinder Singh.
Welcoming the decision of Bibi Surjit Kaur Barnala to merge SAD (Longowal) into Congress, Captain Amarinder Singh said that he had been close to the Barnala family from a long time and he had even served as Cabinet Minister in his government in 1980’s. He said that the Barnala family has contributed a lot towards welfare of Punjab. “Inclusion of Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) into Congress would strengthened the party fold in wake of upcoming assembly elections of 2017,” Amarinder Singh said.
Senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Shakeel Ahmed, who are incharge of party affairs in Punjab, were also present on the occasion, besides SAD (L) leaders Gaganjit Singh Barnala and Baldev Mann.
Speaking after the merger, SAD (L) president Surjit Kaur Barnala said, “Going by Punjab’s present conditions, we feel this is the right decision. Punjab’s future is with Captain Amarinder Singh and we hope he will live up to the expectations. He has served Punjab earlier and we also have a lot of hope on him that is why we have merged our outfit.”
