Badals lose SAD control for 1st time in 3 decades

Sukhbir's resignation accepted, election to party chief on March 1

- HARPREET BAJWA

THE Badal family, often called the first family of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), loses control over the century-old party for the first time in three decades. On Friday, the party's working committee accepted the resignation of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, paving the way for restructuring the party and holding elections for the post of president.

Sukhbir led the party since 2008. His father and former chief minister, the late Parkash Singh Badal, was president from 1995 till 2017 when he handed over the mantle to his son and heir-apparent.