1 week Ago
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday announced that it will hold the delegate session to elect a new party president and office bearers on April 12. The delegate session will take place at Teja Singh Samundari Hall in the Golden Temple Complex. This was decided in the working committee meeting, which was presided over by party working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, held at party headquarters here.
The turmoil within SAD, which was already battling diminishing electoral returns post the 2015 sacrilege incidents, deepened when Sukhbir Singh Badal, who had been declared ‘tankhaya’ (guilty of religious misconduct), resigned from the president post on November 16. His resignation was accepted by the party working committee on January 11. On December 2, last year, Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, pronounced tankah (punishment) on Sukhbir and other leaders of the party for atonement of mistakes committed during the SAD-BJP government from 2007 to 2017.
It is still not clear as to who would be the new party president. As per sources within the party, the cadres and the leaders want Sukhbir to take over the reins once again. Sukhbir became the party chief for the first time in 2008 when he took over from his father Parkash Singh Badal.
Owing to mounting pressure after being declared tankhaya, Sukhbir resigned. Sukhbir took over as deputy CM in 2009 and, in 2015 during the second consecutive term of the government a series of sacrilege incidents rocked the state. The incumbent government took most of the blame for failing to stop the incidents and bringing culprits to book.
Flip flop on pardon to dera Sirsa head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, by the Akal Takht further damaged the party. Post December 2 edict, Sukhbir sought an apology and performed sewa for atonement. SAD has been unwilling to accept the complete edict which includes holding a party’s membership drive under the supervision of a committee constituted by the Akal Takht.
SAD feared that a membership drive supervised and directed by a religious body may lead to the cancellation of the party’s recognition by the Election Commission of India as per the Representation of People’s Act. The party instead completed its membership drive, and elected delegates. Meanwhile, the divide in the party deepened as rebel leaders led by Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, part of the Takht-appointed committee, began a membership drive on March 18 which they say will continue for three months or more.
Rally in Talwandi Sabo on Baisakhi As a show of strength, the party has decided to hold a political conference on the occasion of Baisakhi on April 13 at Talwandi Sabo. The party has already started mobilising cadres to attend the rally, which will also launch the newly elected President. SAD flags deteriorating law and order situation According to party leader Daljit Singh Cheema, the working committee expressed serious concern at the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab with a series of bomb blasts occurring at several police stations as well as at the Thakur Dwara temple in Amritsar; vandalising of the statues of BR Ambedkar as well as the grenade attack on the residence of senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia.
The committee also condemned the amendments made to the Waqf Act and added that the central government had also interfered in the functioning of the management boards of Sri Hazur Sahib and Takht Patna Sahib..
