Chandigarh:It may seem bizarre but when a NGO sought information regarding the money spent on chintanshivar (party conclave) by Shriomani Akali Dal last year in Goa, the party refused to divulge the details. The reason provided by Akali Dal was that information should be sought from SAD (Badal) and not from SAD as done by the NGO.
It may be confusing for even keen follower of Punjab politics, but the SAD and SAD (Badal) are virtually the same entities for all practical purposes with Sukhbir Badal as president of both. This unusual reasoning came to light when a NGO named HELP sought information under RTI act about the expenditure incurred by Akali Dal on chintanshivar for brain storming.
The Akali Dal submitted before state information commission that information was sought by NGO from the SAD (Badal) and not SAD. The Akali’s Dal has cleverly diverted the issue of expenditure by taking support of technical nitty-gritty. However, a closer look would reveal that both SAD and SAD (Badal) exist, with Mr Sukhbir Badal as their president, in respective records of the election commission and the Gurdawara Election Cell of the Delhi government.
The party was changing names to suit the situation when it comes to contest the Gurdwara elections as a religious party and parliamentary or the state elections assembly polls as a secular party.
