Keeping with panthic interests and ‘maan-maryada’ of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Working Committee has unanimously decided not to contest forthcoming by-elections to four assembly seats in Punjab.

Briefing media, senior party leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said, this unanimous decision has been taken at an emergent meeting of the Party Working Committee at Chandigarh, today in which district Presidents and constituency in-charges also participated. The meeting was presided over by SAD’s Working President Balwinder Singh Bhunder.

SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal has been forbidden by Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, to participate in the upcoming by-elections in the state, as he has been declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by Sri Akal Takht Sahib for the alleged mistakes committed by his party and government from 2007 to 2017.

Meanwhile, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), today announced the name of Sohan Singh Thandal as its fourth candidate for the Chabewal seat in Hoshiarpur. On Tuesday, the party announced the names of Ravikaran Kahlon from Dera Baba Nanak, Manpreet Badal from Gidderbaha and Kewal Singh Dhillon from Barnala assembly seats.

Congress and Aam Adami Party had already announced their party candidates for the by-elections in the four assembly constituencies which are scheduled to be held on November 13. These four Assembly seats fell vacant after MLAs from these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha.