Despite Shiromani Akali Dal’s worst-ever performance in the recent Punjab Assembly polls, the party’s core committee on Monday unanimously expressed “ full faith and pride in the firm and far-sighted leadership of the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal.”

“The core committee is especially proud of the brave, selfless and tireless manner in which the President led the party from the front in true Panthic traditions during the six-month-long campaign for the just concluded poll for the Punjab Assembly,” said a resolution passed at the meeting of the committee. The SAD won only three seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.

Addressing the meeting, Badal said that the party will continue its fight to safeguard the interests of Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiat, upholding the glorious traditions and values of the Khalsa Panth.

He called upon the center not to mess with Punjab’s rights over control of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and its legitimate representation in the Chandigarh administration until the city is transferred to Punjab as committed by the Parliament and by four different Prime Ministers. Today’s meeting began with the recitation of the sacred mool mantra, “humbly and sincerely bowed before the mandate of the people of Punjab in the just concluded Punjab poll.”

The SAD said the party humbly bows before the mandate of the people but resolves to continue fighting to safeguard Panthic and Punjab interests.

The meeting, chaired by the party’s patron in Chief and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, expressed its “profound gratitude to ”millions of Punjabis who expressed their faith in the party by voting for its candidates.”

Giving details of the meeting, senior vice president of the party Harcharan Singh Bains said the deliberation to analyse the poll mandate will continue tomorrow when senior leaders will discuss the details of the results with the president at the party headquarters. This will be followed by more meetings of the in the coming days, with senior leaders analyzing these results with the president tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Sukhbir Badal has asked the party’s candidates to start the rounds of their constituencies to thank the electorate after the meeting in Chandigarh.