New Delhi, December 1: Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the Shiromani Akali Dal leader who on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party said that he has done so to resolve longstanding issues related to the Sikh community that have been ignored for the past 70 years.

Addressing mediapersons after joining the party in presence of Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Sirsa said, "I have joined the BJP to resolve the problems of my Sikh brothers dedicatedly. The Sikh Committee has contributed a lot in the last 70 years, but nothing has been done for them. Even a university could not be set up in the National capital on their name. This has happened because of the weak leadership which is very unfortunate."

The former SAD leader said that he believed that the Central government can solve the issues of the Sikh community and said that Home Minister has given an assurance of the same.

"For the past 70 years, there have been many issues that the Sikhs have been raising but nobody talks about them. I believe that the present government in the country can solve the issue. I spoke to the Home Minister and he spoke to the Prime Minister who assured me of resolving the issues that have long been pending in the last 70 years," he said.

Talking about the issues relating to the Sikh community, he said that the government can solve the problems within hours if it wants to. "I resigned from the Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee so that we could come forward with the issues with commitment about which the committee has long been fighting. There are numerous issues that have not been addressed for the past 70 years like the issue of Patna Sahib, reservation of Sikh in Jammu and Kashmir, Sikhs in Madhya Pradesh. If the government wants, all the issues can be resolved within hours," he said.

Shekhawat who is in charge of BJP for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, said that the inclusion of Sirsa, who is a prominent face in North Indian politics, will be of advantage to the party. "Sirsa joining the party will surely be of advantage in the upcoming elections. The Sikh face that is prominent in North Indian politics is of Sirsa," he said.

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