Sikh as PM a non-issue: Badal

Jalandhar (PTI): Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being a Sikh was a non-issue and his party would toe the NDA line during the trust vote on the nuke issue in the Lok Sabha.

\"Don\'t drag me into non-issues like the Prime Minister being a Sikh,\" he told reporters here when asked whether his party would vote against India\'s first Sikh Prime Minister during the confidence vote.

\"SAD is a constituent of the NDA and we will follow the stand taken by it,\" the Punjab Chief Minister said.

Badal remarks came amid reports that some Sikh bodies have approached the Akal Takht for a directive to community\'s MPs to support the Prime Minister during the trust vote.

It may be recalled that the party had supported former Prime Minister I K Gujral, a Punjabi, and did not field any candidate against him from Jalandhar constituency.

The SAD had also supported Gaini Zail Singh, a nominee of the Congress for the post of the President, as he was a Sikh.

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