Chandigarh, December 31: They may have contested the Assembly and parliamentary elections against each other, but the Badal clan put up a united face today. Both SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal touched the feet of their estranged uncle, Gurdas Singh Badal, at a polling station in Badal village, sought his blessing and asked about his well-being.
Gurdas Badal, who is the father of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections against his elder brother, then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in 2012. And Manpreet had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections against Harsimrat from Bathinda in 2014.
On Sunday, Sukhbir and his uncle coincidentally reached the polling station at same time. On seeing each other, they exchanged pleasantries. Sukhbir rushed towards his uncle and touched his feet.
He even called Harsimrat to seek Gurdas Badal’s blessings. When Gurdas blessed her, Harsimrat said: “Now, keep this hand of blessings on me forever.”
Later, Sukhbir said, “He is my uncle and I have played in his lap in my childhood. We have political differences, but we still respect him. Had Manpreet met me here today, I would have hugged him.”
When Gurdas Badal was asked about today’s development, he said, “We are a family. Nowadays, children don’t listen to elderly persons, but they still respect me.”The SAD suffered a setback as Udayveer Dhillon, a relative of former CM Parkash Singh Badal, lost the election of sarpanch at Badal village. Jabarkang Singh ‘Mukha’, who was backed by the Congress, emerged victorious. Most of the Congress-supported members of the village panchayat also won from Badal village.:
Source Tribune India
