SAD to contest Haryana Assembly polls jointly with INLD

Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) will field its candidates in the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections in alliance with the state's main opposition party - Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
SAD(B) General Secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra said here today that the two parties will fight the October polls "jointly".
Earlier, SAD and INLD had jointly contested the Haryana Assembly polls in 2009.
Replying to a question, Chandumajra told reporters, "No doubt SAD is one of the allies of NDA, but in Haryana we have an alliance with the INLD."
He said that in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, SAD had offered its support and campaigned for INLD candidates in Haryana.

He, however, said Akali Dal would make every effort to see that BJP and INLD, both of whom had separated earlier, join hands again and be part of the alliance in the state assembly elections to defeat Congress.

Chandumajra pointed out that SAD being a key partner of NDA could play an important role in it.
Meanwhile, criticising Haryana's move for constituting separate Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, he claimed that some Sikh leaders of Haryana had been conspiring to weaken and divide the community.
Slamming Congress, he said, "Congress for its own narrow political interests has been encouraging those forces which conspire to divide the Sikh community."

He said Akali Dal would take up the matter of carving out a separate SGPC for Haryana with Akal Takht and Amritsar-based SGPC.