BJP leader joins SAD, to contest from Haryana's Kalanwali

In a tit-for-tat, the SAD on Tuesday inducted BJP's Rajinder Singh Desu Jodha into the party fold and declared him the party candidate from Haryana's Kalanwali for the October 21 assembly polls. His induction into the Shiromai Akali Dal came days after its lone MLA from Kalanwali in the state defected to the saffron party.

Jodha was the BJP candidate from the Kalanwali in the 2014 assembly polls. "Sukhbir Singh Badal announced Rajinder Singh Desu Jodha as the SAD candidate from the Kalanwali assembly segment in Haryana. He joined the SAD today. He was the BJP nominee in the last assembly elections," SAD senior vice-president Daljit Singh Cheema said in his tweet.

On September 26, when Akali MLA Blakaur Singh joined the BJP, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had termed the move "unethical and unfortunate". "There is a 'maryada' (dignity) of relationship (alliance). What the BJP has done is unethical," Sukhbir had said.

The SAD had also accused the BJP of backtracking from its commitment of contesting the Haryana assembly jointly. The SAD has now decided to go solo in the Haryana Assembly polls, claiming to have a sway in at least 30 of 90 assembly seats.

The SAD has an alliance with the BJP in Punjab and Delhi. It had contested the last assembly elections in the state in alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal.

The alliance had come to an end in 2017 on the SYL issue.

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