Charanjit Singh Atwal quits SAD on 'moral grounds' after son joins BJP

Chandigarh: Veteran leader and former Punjab Assembly Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal on Wednesday resigned from the primary membership of the Shiromani Akali Dal, days after his son Inder Iqbal Atwal joined the BJP.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has named Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, who quit the Akali Dal recently, as its candidate for the Lok Sabha bypoll to Jalandhar seat in Punjab.

Charanjit Singh Atwal (86), who was the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 and once considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, said he quit the SAD on moral grounds after his son and other family members joined the BJP.

"I have written to SAD that I have resigned from primary membership and from other responsibilities today. I did so because I feel my sons Inder Iqbal Singh and Jasjeet Singh and my nephew Sukhjinderjeet Singh have left SAD and joined the BJP," he said.

"Second thing is that my elder son Inder Iqbal Singh is fighting the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll as a BJP candidate. I feel as BJP has given respect to him and fielded him from Jalandhar and besides this, some other family members have also joined the outfit, morally I feel leaving SAD was necessary," he added.

Polling for the Jalandhar parliamentary seat will take place on May 10 while the counting will be held on May 13.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.