In a severe jolt to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) just 10 days before the Punjab assembly polls, its senior leader and former minister Balbir Singh Maini quit the party to join the Congress.Maini, a two-time MLA from Tanda constituency in Hoshiarpur district, was a SAD veteran who decided to become a part of the Punjab Congress under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh after being disenchanted with the Akali leadership.Extending his full support to Captain Amarinder, who welcomed him into the Congress fold, Maini said the Badal-led SAD had lost all credibility in the state with its anti-people policies and undemocratic style of functioning. Leaders like him, who wanted to serve Punjab and its people, were not allowed to function under the Badals, who were too busy promoting their family interests to think about the welfare of the people, he added.Maini said he would campaign hard for the Congress to rid the state of the Akali stranglehold.