Punjab: SAD MP SS Ghubaya resigns from all party posts, blames Sukhbir Badal for quitting

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has suffered a major setback with its senior leader Sher Singh Ghubaya, a Member of Parliament from Ferozepur, quitting the party on Monday. The SAD, however, claims to have expelled Ghubaya.

The relations between Ghubaya and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had been frosty for quite some time, which culminated in him resigning from the party on Monday. In his resignation letter, Ghubaya claims to have resigned from all posts of the party and cited ‘wrong policies’ of party president as the main reason behind leaving the outfit.

Talking to National Herald on phone, Ghubaya claimed that he had been sidelined by the SAD leadership for a long time. “My relations with Sukhbir Badal were not smooth, which was evident to all. I was never invited to attend any meeting of the party, never involved in any decision taken by the party, even though I was two-time MP,” he said.

“The tipping point was when I was not given time to ask any question in the Parliament due to intervention by the SAD leadership,” says Ghubaya.

When asked that which political party he was joining now, Ghubaya claimed that leaders of some other political parties were in his contact. “The next course of action will be decided after discussing the issue with family members and supporters,” he said.

Due to his ongoing differences with SAD president Sukhbir Badal, Sher Singh Ghubaya, in 2017 Punjab Assembly Elections, had to get a Congress ticket for his son Davinder Ghubaya from Fazilka seat. Davinder Ghubaya went on to defeat former Punjab Health minister Surjit Kumar Jyani, a senior BJP leader, by 265 votes. He became the youngest MLA in the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government.

Sources have told this correspondent that Ghubaya is likely to join the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Moga on March 7 and could be a contender from the Ferozepur seat in the Lok Sabha elections.