Reunited in Grief: Badal cousins pay last respects to Akali Dal patriarch
Manpreet Badal was seen visibly upset at his uncle Parkash Singh Badal’s death and cried bitterly when he embraced Sukhbir Badal at the Fortis hospital, where the senior Badal breathed his last on Tuesday.
PTC News Desk: The death of Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal has temporarily united his estranged cousins, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who have been known to have gone separate ways in life.
On Tuesday, Manpreet Badal, visibly upset, was seen weeping bitterly as he embraced Sukhbir Badal at the Fortis Hospital, where the senior Badal passed away. They were seen together as they carried the mortal remains of the senior Badal from the hospital to the hearse that took him to the SAD office in Sector 28 of Chandigarh, where the public was allowed to pay their last respects.
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The two were last seen together at the death of their uncle, Gurdass Singh Badal, the younger brother of Parkash Badal, on May 15, 2020. On this occasion, Sukhbir was seen carrying the mortal remains of his uncle together with Manpreet. A photo of Badal bowing and breaking down on the glass casket in which Gurdass Badal’s body was kept, and Sukhbir Badal watching helplessly, went viral.
The senior Badal had expressed his great desire that his two families be reunited, but it remained unfulfilled as Manpreet Badal chose to join the BJP instead of the SAD in January this year. The two brothers used to be known as the ‘Ram-Laxman Ki Jodi’ and were neighbors in Badal village, often meeting up. Gurdass Badal had spoken of how Parkash Badal would always visit his house first whenever he visited the village.
However, a rift between the two families appeared in 2011, when Manpreet Badal, who was then the Finance Minister in the SAD-BJP government, quit SAD and formed his own People’s Party of Punjab (PPP).
Gurdass Badal then ran against his brother in Lambi but lost. During the campaign, Gurdass Badal wore an overcoat presented to him by Parkash Badal, as a reminder of his elder brother’s love even when running against him.