SAD dismisses Akali Dal faction's merger with Congress

Shiromani Akali Dal today dismissed the merger of its splinter group Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) headed by former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala's wife, with Congress as "legalization of an illicit marriage already in existence" and a "political non-event".
"The enemies of Punjab have now declared their alliance with the traitors of the Punjab and Panth. In a way, it is good that the traitors have thrown aside their camouflage and come out shamelessly in the open," Prem Singh Chandumajra, Lok Sabha MP and General Secretary of the SAD said here.
Chandumajra also alleged that the merger was the "ultimate insult" to the great Sant Harchand Singh Longowal whose name is being "misused shamelessly".