Ludhiana, June 24 -- The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), once a strong political force in Ludhiana West, faced a major blow in the recent by-election as its candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman could manage to pull only 8,203 votes, securing a mere 9.1% of the vote share and losing his security deposit.

The constituency, historically significant for SAD, was earlier won by the party during its alliance with the BJP. In 2007, SAD's Harish Rai Dhanda had won from the seat and was later appointed chief parliamentary secretary. Later, senior Akali leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal, a former cabinet minister, also contested from here. Back then, the SAD-BJP combine enjoyed considerable support in Ludhiana's urban belt.

This time, however, the picture wa...