Former Punjab minister Sohan Singh Thandal returned to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday, months after unsuccessfully contesting the Chabbewal Assembly byelection on a BJP ticket in November last year.
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Thandal joined SAD in the presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal here.
Thandal quit SAD on October 24 last year and joined BJP hours later. BJP then named him as its candidate for the Chabbewal Assembly bypoll.
Welcoming Thandal back into the party, Badal said, “There is a growing feeling in Punjab that SAD alone can deal with the menace of rampant corruption and gangster culture unleashed by the AAP government and bring back the era of peace and development.”
“This is the reason why Thandal has chosen to return to the party and this is why you will see a number of other leaders from all political parties joining the SAD in the coming days,” the former deputy chief minister said.
Thandal said he left the SAD due to some issues in his constituency, but the party always remained close to his heart.
“I never criticised the party and I am happy that the party always held me in high esteem,” he said.
Thandal underlined the need to give a befitting reply to the AAP in the June 19 Ludhiana West assembly bypoll.
“SAD candidate Parupkar Ghumman is by far the best candidate in the field and I am confident that people will support him wholeheartedly,” he said.
Thandal had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Hoshiarpur constituency on a SAD ticket.
Once a core committee member of SAD, he won the 2012 assembly polls from the Chabbewal seat. However, his re-election bids in 2017 and 2022 were unsuccessful.
Thandal was the minister for jails, tourism and cultural affairs in the Akali government in Punjab. He was the MLA from the erstwhile Mahilpur Assembly constituency in 1997, 2002 and 2007.
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