Punjab Elections 2017: Late CM Barnala's family join SAD after being miffed by Congress

The family of Punjab former chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala has joined Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), after reports of being miffed by the absence of senior leaders of the grand old party at cremation and memorial service of the former.

Barely 10 months after joining the Congress, the family quit the party on Thursday. Barnala family's close associate and former minister Baldev Singh Mann also resigned from the Congress with them.

Barnala's wife Surjit Kaur and son Gaganjit Singh Barnala formally resigned from the Congress less than two weeks after the former Punjab chief minister had passed away. While their political adversary and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Sing Badal had attended the bhog ceremony of Barnala on Sunday and called him a 'statesman', no senior Congress attended the event.

Barnala (91) had passed away on January 14, 2017, after a brief illness.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)