CHANDIGARH: Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday decided to support NDA’s presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu. The SAD had exited NDA 21 months ago in protest against the three central farm laws.
After a lengthy core committee meeting of the SAD, the party president, Sukhbir Singh Badal, said, “While we have our reservations with the BJP over key issues like removing a sense of insecurity from the minds of minorities, especially the Sikhs, the SAD is basically inspired and guided by the ideals placed before humanity by the great Guru Sahiban. These ideals are supporting the cause of the poor and the down-trodden... Droupadi Murmu also belongs to the very downtrodden class of the society.”