“During our meeting with BJP, we were asked to reconsider our stand on CAA but we declined to do so. SAD is of the firm stand that Muslims cannot be left out of CAA,” SAD leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.
AMN / NEW DELHI
Shiromani Akai Dal (SAD) on Monday announced that it would not contest the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections after it was asked by the BJP to change its stance on the new Citizenship law.
Addressing a press conference, SAD leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the party was asked to consider its stand on CAA during three poll-related meetings with the BJP.
“During our meeting with the BJP, we were asked to reconsider our stand on CAA but we declined to do so. SAD is of the firm stand that Muslims cannot be left out of CAA,” Sirsa said.
Shiromani Akali Dal declares that it would prefer not to contest elections in Delhi than sacrificing the interests of the minorities or compromising on the secular principles taught to us by the great Guru Sahiban, said Sirsa .
Sirsa, who contested on a BJP ticket from Rajouri Garden in the 2017 bypolls, said the party was also against a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“We welcome CAA but we never demanded any religion be excluded. We are also strongly against the National Register of Citizens,” he said.
The SAD had earlier demanded that it contest six seats instead of the four seats it has traditionally been contesting in Delhi. The party contested four seats in the 2013 and 2015 assembly polls — Hari Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Kalkaji and Shahdara. While the party won three seats in 2013, it lost all seats in the 2015 polls.
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