DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday said it will support Indian National Lok Dal candidates in the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana. The decision was taken at a meeting of the SAD's Haryana unit which was presided over by the party's state affairs incharge Balwinder Singh Bhunder, a party statement said.

The meeting held at the SAD's head office here was attended by the party's Haryana president Sharanjit Singh Sotha and INLD general secretary Abhay Singh Chautala.

Chautala thanked the SAD for its decision to extend wholehearted support to the INLD in the Lok Sabha polls, according to the statement.

Polling for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held in the sixth round of the seven-phase general elections on May 25.

Chautala said the INLD and the SAD are traditional alliance partners and their unity in the forthcoming elections will help his party emerge victorious.

The former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD is contesting all the 10 seats in the state. The party has announced candidates on six seats so far.

According to the statement, Chautala highlighted "how an effort was on to marginalise and even finish off regional parties".

"Only regional parties can fulfill the aspirations of the people of the region and I am confident that with the INLD and the SAD joining hands, the aspirations of the people of Haryana will be fulfilled," he said.

SAD's Bhunder said, "The party has taken feedback from its cadre in Haryana and there is an overwhelming view that the SAD should support the INLD which alone stands in support of farmers, farm labourers as well as the poor and downtrodden."He said the SAD will soon depute its Haryana team in the field to support the INLD.
(editor@dailyworld.in)