Chandigarh: A week before the Punjab elections scheduled for 1 June, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has ousted his brother-in-law Adaish Partap Singh Kairon for working against the party’s interest.
The decision was made after a complaint by Virsa Singh Valtoha, SAD’s candidate from Khadoor Sahib, who alleged that Kairon was undermining his campaign and working against him. Valtoha, a former militant who transitioned into politics, was elected as an MLA from Valtoha in 2007 and from Khemkaran post-delimitation in 2012.
Kairon, 65, is married to Badal’s sister, Parneet Kaur, and is the grandson of Pratap Singh Kairon — a revered former chief minister of Punjab. A seasoned politician, Kairon has served as an MLA from Patti four times and held the position of cabinet minister twice under Prakash Singh Badal’s administration.
His removal comes ahead of a tough electoral battle on the Khadoor Sahib seat, which is witnessing a five-way contest involving SAD’s Valtoha, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Manjit Singh Manna, Congress’s Kulbir Singh Zira, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Laljit Singh Bhullar, and Independent Sikh extremist Amritpal Singh.
A few hours after Kairon’s removal, Valtoha issued a video statement on Facebook hailing Sukhbir Badal’s detachment as a leader for taking the decision. “For a brother to take a decision like this against the husband of her only sister is not easy, but he was forced to do it as there was no option left for him,” said Valtoha in the statement.
“We all know why Kairon saab has been removed from the party. Sukhbir ji tried his best to stop him from opposing me in the constituency, but despite all his efforts when nothing changed, this decision had to be taken,” he added.
Valtoha went on to add that after spending hours travelling in Punjab, “Sukhbir ji would go to Chandigarh to repeatedly meet Kairon saab, but he overlooked the party’s welfare.”
According to highly placed sources in the party, Kairon had been openly asking people in his constituency of Patti to vote for anyone but Valtoha. They added that Kairon had vociferously objected to Valtoha’s candidacy and had even suggested two names of panthic Akali leaders to the party high command, which were rejected.
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Valtoha vs Kairon
Valtoha and Kairon have had a running feud since the 2022 assembly elections. Sources in the party said that Kairon wanted his wife Parneet Kaur to be the candidate from Khemkaran.
In March 2021, almost a year before the elections, Kairon had started holding meetings with Akali workers in Khemkaran. In several such meetings, he even announced that one of his family members would be serving the people of Khemkaran.
In response, Valtoha started openly speaking against Kairon and Parneet Kaur saying that both were welcome to contest the elections in Khemkaran but not on Akali tickets.
While Kairon was given a ticket from Patti, his wife was denied a ticket from Khemkaran, which went to Valtoha. However, both Kairon and Valtoha lost their assembly seats to AAP candidates.
Both Patti and Khemkaran form part of the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency.
Pratap Singh Kairon, Kairon ’s grandfather, was Punjab’s third chief minister and a prominent figure in post-partition Punjab. Initially a leader within SAD, he joined Congress in 1941 and played a crucial role as rehabilitation minister in resettling Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan after the partition.
He served as chief minister of Punjab for eight years (1956-1964), before Haryana was carved out of the state in 1966. He is credited with building several modern-day institutions in both the states. However, his family faced allegations of corruption, and although an inquiry exonerated him of the major charges, he resigned as chief minister in 1964.
Pratap Singh Kairon was assassinated in Haryana the following year while he was on his way from Delhi to Chandigarh. The assassins, who allegedly had a personal grudge against him, were hanged in 1969.
Pratap Singh Kairon’s sons — Surinder Singh and Gurinder Singh — followed in his political footsteps. While Gurinder remained in the Congress, Surinder, who served as both MLA and MP, aligned with SAD and married his son Adaish Partap Singh Kairon to Parkash Singh Badal’s daughter, Parneet Kaur.
Adaish Kairon, an engineer with an MBA from the US, continues the family’s political legacy.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)