Chandigarh, July 18
Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali on Monday boycotted the presidential poll, saying issues related to Punjab remained unresolved and he was not consulted by his party leadership before deciding to back NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has three legislators in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. NDA’s candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against joint opposition pick Yashwant Sinha.
In a video message, Ayali said he is boycotting the poll on his own and the party leadership did not consult him before deciding to extend support to Murmu.
However, the Dakha MLA said he had no opposition to the candidature of Murmu. “But when the party decided to vote for the BJP candidate, I was not consulted. Even the Sikh community was not consulted,” he said.
He alleged that there had always been discrimination against Punjab.
Referring to the Punjab issues, Ayali raised the matter of handing over of Punjabi-speaking areas to the state besides the non-resolution of contentious river waters-sharing issue.
He said that after the BJP came to power, there were many expectations from it for the resolution of the Punjab issues. “But our issues remain unresolved,” Ayali said in the video.
SAD MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali boycotts presidential poll
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