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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal paid obeisance at the revered Golden Temple on Sunday and expressed gratitude for victory in the Bathinda constituency for a fourth consecutive time in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
After offering prayers at the Harmandir Sahib, the SAD leader said, "I paid obeisance and thanked God for helping me to win from Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency for the fourth time. I also thank the public and workers who contributed to the victory. I took oath in the parliament for the fourth time." She hails from Punjab's powerful political family of the Badals. She is the daughter-in-law of five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and wife of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal won the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, defeating her nearest rival and AAP nominee Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, according to the Election Commission. Harsimrat polled 3.76 lakh votes while Khuddian got 3.26 lakh votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Earlier this week, Harsimrat Kaur Badal reacted to the dissent against her husband and party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. A section of senior SAD leaders on Tuesday dissented against party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and passed a resolution demanding that he should step down as party chief following the Akali Dal's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections. Reacting to the same, Harsimrat said, "The entire Shiromani Akali Dal is united and is standing with Sukhbir Badal. Some of the stooges of the BJP are trying to break SAD. They want to do the same as they did in Maharashtra." The revolt by the faction of leaders came as a major setback for Badal, who had been grappling with internal dissent. The rift became apparent on Tuesday with one section holding a meeting seeking Badal's resignation and the other reposing faith in him. Senior leaders, including Parminder Singh Dhindsa, and Bidi Jagir Kaur, among others, launched a revolt against party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, demanding change in the leadership. Later the SAD Working Committee reposed faith in the leadership of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal following a revolt by a faction of SAD leaders against the party chief demanding change in the leadership after the party's severe drubbing in recent Lok Sabha elections. Taking to the microblogging site X, Shiromani Akali Dal posted, "Shiromani Akali Dal Working Committee reposes complete faith in the leadership of party president S Sukhbir Singh Badal and urges detractors not to play into the hands of Panth's enemies. The committee asks the president to lead the efforts to expose conspiracies against the party, Panth and Punjab." (ANI)
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