NEW DELHI: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday said she was “deeply touched” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “kind gesture” of reaching out to enquire about the health of her husband and party chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was attacked at a gurdwara in Maharashtra’s Nanded a day earlier.This marked the Badal family’s first reaction to the attack on the former Punjab deputy chief minister.“Truly grateful, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, for your personal call to inquire about Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal ji’s health and for your good wishes for his speedy recovery following the dastardly attack on him inside a Gurudwara Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra,” Harsimrat Badal, SAD’s only Lok Sabha MP, wrote on X.She also thanked the prime minister for taking immediate cognisance of the incident and directing central investigating agencies to coordinate with the state police in the probe.“Your concern, support and wishes during this difficult time mean a lot to all of us in the family, our party and to the people of Punjab. I am deeply touched by your kind gesture. I am also grateful to you for taking immediate cognisance of the incident and directing central investigating agencies to coordinate with Maharashtra Police in the probe,” the Bathinda MP added.On Thursday, Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured after being attacked by a kirpan-wielding assailant while leaving the Mata Sahib Devaji Gurdwara at Mudkhed in Maharashtra’s Nanded district. The assailant was arrested at the spot.Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an inquiry into the attack and spoke to Sukhbir Singh Badal over the phone. The SAD president is learnt to have told Fadnavis that he was stable, ANI reported.Earlier, Badal was also targeted in an attempted shooting at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in December 2024 while he was performing “seva”. The attacker allegedly tried to fire at him but was overpowered before he could cause any harm.The 2024 attack took place while Badal was carrying out “seva” after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority in Sikhism, declared him a “tankhaiya,” or guilty of religious misconduct, over decisions taken by the SAD-led Punjab government between 2007 and 2017.
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The SAD and BJP, which currently lead the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, are former allies. In 2020, the SAD ended its alliance with the BJP in protest against the Centre’s contentious farm laws, which were later withdrawn.Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, triggering speculation that the former allies could reunite ahead of the Punjab assembly elections early next year.
