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The disciplinary committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has suspended former Akali Dal MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu over allegations of engaging in anti-party activities. Sidhu, a four-time MLA and the current SAD constituency in-charge of Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda district, has been given 24 hours to respond to a show-cause notice, which inquired why he should not be expelled from the party.
Sources suggest that Sidhu is considering switching to the Congress party. The decision to suspend Sidhu was made following a complaint from the party leadership of the Talwandi Sabo constituency.
The Akali Dal disciplinary committee, chaired by former minister Sikander Singh Maluka, conducted a virtual meeting via video conference to discuss the complaint against Sidhu.
Sikander Singh Maluka explained, “Balkar Singh, district president of SAD, received a written complaint from the workers of Talwandi Sabo constituency, stating that Sidhu was meeting people from Congress, not attending party meetings, and not responding to party workers. Consequently, we decided to issue a show-cause notice, providing him 24 hours to explain why he should not be expelled from the party.”
Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, a former Akali Dal MLA from Talwandi Sabo, has a history of affiliations with both Akali Dal and Congress. He initially joined the Akali Dal in 2014 while still being a Congress MLA, leading to a bypoll in August 2014, which he won on an SAD ticket. Before that, he had been elected as a Congress MLA from Talwandi Sabo in 2002, 2007, and 2012. However, in 2017 and 2022, he contested as an Akali Dal candidate but lost to AAP’s Baljinder Kaur.
Sidhu’s political journey has seen him contest as an independent candidate in 2002, narrowly winning against Congress nominee Harminder Singh Jassi. Shortly after this victory, he rejoined Congress. His political career began with the SAD in 1997 when he contested as an Akali Dal candidate from Talwandi Sabo but was defeated by Congress’s Harminder Singh Jassi. In 2002, after leaving SAD, he contested as an independent candidate.
