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Many of them may have criticised him over the years while he was in Congress but soon after joining the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the two-time former MP Gurcharan Singh Galib became a ‘saint’. He also managed to bag party ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
At the SAD-BJP rally at the local Grain Market today, a battery of SAD-BJP leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal termed Galib as an honest and saint politician. “I was surprised to see how an honest leader like Galib was pulling along with the Congress all these years,” said former minister Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal.
“He was a very much an Akali, even before joining the SAD. In fact, while remaining in the Congress, Galib kept supporting us (Akalis) for a long time,” said senior SAD leader and former president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Jagdev Singh Talwandi.
Sukhbir Badal too was all praise for Galib and said no one in the party was against the candidature of Galib as the SAD candidate from the city. “Congress had humiliated Galib but he will be given his due respect in the SAD,” said Sukhbir.
“Earlier when Galib was in the Congress, I used to say that 95 per cent of the Congress leaders are corrupt and dishonest, but now when Galib and his supporters have joined the SAD, I will have to amend my data of the honest Congressmen,” Prof Rajinder Bhandari of BJP added.
While the SAD-BJP leaders showered their praises on the new leader, Galib minced no words in bad-mouthing the Congress. “Congress has meted step-motherly treatment to Punjab and has ignored the state’s interest,” he said. He added that the SAD can better guard the interest of the state.
Sidelights
* To make him feel special, Gurcharan Singh Galib was made to sit with Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal. Galib and his right-hand man Prem Mittal, leader of opposition in Ludhiana MC, were welcomed in SAD fold with a siropa.
* SAD-BJP workers started bursting crackers when Sukhbir Badal presented a siropa to Galib to welcome him in the party.
* The SAD-BJP leaders on stage and people at the rally were in splits when Prem Mittal asked them to raise the religious slogan of ‘Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh’, but was about to say ‘Jaikara E Sheranwali Mata’.
* As soon as Sukhbir Badal came on stage, Sharanjit Dhillon and Hira Singh Gabria tried to sit next to Badal and in their attempt, Gabria virtually sat on Dhillon’s lap.
* Galib referred to the Congress as his party when he said, “There are many sycophants in our party.” But he immediately corrected himself saying he was no longer in Congress.
* People started laughing when former SGPC leader and senior SAD leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi said even when Galib was in the Congress, he used to support the Akalis.
* A number of speakers did not mention the name of MP Sharanjit Singh Dhillon though they kept mentioning the names of other leaders on the stage.
* A man Jarnail Singh, who wanted to submit an application to Sukhbir Badal, hogged the media attention when he was stopped by the police. Ignoring the leaders on stage, photojournalists kept clicking the pictures of the man.
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