CHANDIGARH: Citing that he was disappointed over the party's sectarian politics and religious issues over broader concerns affecting Punjab, former Punjab cabinet minister Anil Joshi resigned from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday.
Joshi said he felt like a "misfit" in the party. In a strongly worded resignation letter addressed to the party's working president, Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Joshi said that the Shiromani Akali kali Dal is stuck in religious and Sikh Panth issues. There is no thinking about communal brotherhood.
"I had left BJP in protest against the anti-farm laws and I joined the Shiromani Akali Dal because I believed in the secular and inclusive vision of Parkash Singh Badal but with heavy heart, I have to leave as there is no progressive thinking in this party anymore and the party now seems focused on religion and sectarian agendas, which leaves no space for my principles,’’ he said.
He stated that the situation within the party had deteriorated after the death of Parkash Singh Badal.
Criticizing the party's present leadership, "After much thought, I have realized it is no longer possible for me to serve the people of Punjab while staying in the Shiromani Akali Dal,’’ he wrote. In the end, he wrote that he resigned from all positions and primary membership of the party.
Joshi had served as Minister for Local Bodies, Medical Education and Research in the previous SAD-BJP Government and joined the Akali Dal in 2021 following his expulsion from the BJP. He was first elected to the state assembly from the Amritsar (North) seat in 2007 and then again in 2012. Joshi fought the recent Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar on Akali Dal ticket.