Radicals float Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) outfit

Jailed MP Amritpal named as chief; 5-member committee to oversee outfit's working

- Parteek Singh Mahal

MUKTSAR: Radical Sikh leaders launched a regional party, the Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De), at a political conference on the sidelines of the annual Maghi Mela in Muktsar on Tuesday.

Terming it a 'panthic front', the leaders announced that Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, 31, who is lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA), is the party president. A 15-point resolution, called the 'Shri Muktsar Sahib Declaration', was passed at the Maghi conference.

A five-member executive committee was constituted to oversee the working of the party until Amritpal Singh, the regular president, was not elected through an electoral process of the party.

The committee comprises Amritpal's father Tarsem Singh, Faridkot Independent MP Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, who is the son of former PM Indira Gandhi's assassin Beant Singh, Amarjit Singh, Harbhajan Singh Toor and Surjit Singh.