Amit Shah dials Sukhbir Badal; enquires about his father's health

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday spoke to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal and enquired about the health of party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who has been hospitalised due to illness.

The Badal senior, who is 95 and a five-time chief minister of Punjab, has been admitted to a private hospital in Mohali following complaints of breathing difficulties.

"Concerned to know that the veteran leader Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji is unwell and admitted to hospital. Had a telephone discussion about his health with Shri Sukhbir Singh Badal Ji," Shah tweeted.

The SAD was an ally of the ruling BJP but left the saffron party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September 2020 over the passage of three agri-marketing bills in Parliament.

The party also pulled out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government with the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal's wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

The SAD did not rejoin even after the Modi government scrapped the farm laws. The SAD was one of the oldest allies of the BJP.

The SAD and the BJP first stitched together a pre-poll alliance for the 1997 Punjab Assembly elections, which continued through the 2019 parliamentary polls and till September 2020.