Punjab | Sukhbir Badal's resignation accepted but will it resurrect Akali Dal?

With the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) working committee accepting the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as the party chief and unveiling its plan to restructure the party on Friday (January 10), the 104-year-old political party, which has lost significant ground in Punjab over the last 8 years, is now eyeing its political resurrection ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls in the state.

The development comes a couple of days after Akal Takht Jathedar took a tough stand on the issue in a meeting with the SAD leaders, asking them to implement his directions on the reorganization of the party.

Badal had tendered his resignation as the party chief on November 16 last year but the working committee did not accept it, appealing him to reconsider his decision.

Also read: Akal Takht sentences Sukhbir Badal, asks him to clean shoes, utensils at Golden Temple

While pronouncing the religious punishment for Badal and other leaders for the “mistakes” committed by the SAD regime in Punjab from 2007 to 2017 on December 2, the Akal Takht had also directed the SAD’s working committee to accept the resignation of Badal as party chief and other leaders.

Badal was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, on August 30 last year. He had undergone religious punishment.

New membership drive

The SAD has announced a new membership drive, which will begin on January 20 and continue until February 20. SAD’s acting president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, already leading the party’s Working Committee, will oversee critical decisions during this period. The election for the new party president is scheduled to take place on March 1.

This move too has been initiated after on the directions of the Akal Takht as the Jathedar suggested that the current Akali leadership had lost its legitimacy while calling for a complete overhaul. A committee was formed to oversee this transition, which includes a mix of Badal loyalists and rebels. The induction of Satwant Kaur, daughter of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s close aide Amrik Singh, in the panel has also not gone down well among the Badal aides.

However, the road ahead is not easy as many feel that even after restructuring the organisation the party will have to slug it out to regain the trust of people in the state.

Tough road ahead for SAD

Talking to The Federal, former SGPC general secretary Bibi Kiranjot Kaur said she doesn’t see the revival of the SAD until those at the helm are removed. “The leaders calling the shots in the party have completely lost the credibility among Punjabis. Moreover, there is nobody to challenge them as the Badal clan didn’t groom second or third-rung leaders within the party. The Akali Dal was once the party of common people but the Badals promoted dynasty politics by rewarding their loyalists and their kin with plum posts.” She blamed the Badal family’s politics for the leadership crisis that the Sikh community is facing today.

She opined that the Akal Takht’s decision on December 2 last year offered a glimmer of hope, if it was accepted in letter and spirit. However, the SAD doesn’t seem to be in a mood to follow the Sikh clergy’s directions in toto, she said, adding that they will not accept the seven-member panel constituted by the Akal Takht to hold the organisational elections in the party, as rebel SAD leaders have also found place in it.

Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh told The Federal, “We must remember that Sukhbir Badal’s resignation has been accepted only after the Akal Takht’s directions and he wasn’t willing to lose grip over the Akali affairs. The party used all the pressure tactics to avoid accepting his resignation, but they had to finally give in as the Akal Takht Jathedar stood his ground. Therefore, the party has accepted his resignation under compulsion.”

Also read: Why Akal Takht has declared Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal 'guilty of religious misconduct'

He also felt that merely changing the face of the party will not lead to its revival. “The entire lot – Sukhbir and his aides – have been rejected by the people and only a complete overhaul can restore the credibility of the party among the people,” he said. He also expressed apprehensions that either Sukhbir will be re-elected as the party president or he will control the party affairs through remote once the new incumbent is chosen.

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Dharam Prachar wing chief Manjit Singh Bhoma echoed similar sentiments, saying the SAD may have lost power in the state but the party leaders remain arrogant to the core, which was evident in the way they resorted to “character assassination” of Sikh high priests after Sukhbir Badal was declared guilty of religious misconduct.

The Amritpal challenge

While the SAD is grappling with existential crisis in the border state, the emergence of radical Sikh elements like Amritpal Singh, who was elected as Khadoor Sahib MP in the 2024 general elections, also poses a severe challenge to the party whose base has eroded significantly among the Sikh population.

Though Amritpal is lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the NSA, his supporters have come out with the plan to float a political outfit during the annual Maghi Mela in Muktsar on January 14. Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh recently announced the creation of a new political party in Punjab to save “Punjab and the Sikh Panth”. The new party, likely to be named the Shiromani Akali Dal (Anandpur Sahib), is being projected as Punjab’s new “regional” party and an alternative to the SAD.

“The new party will provide the sorely needed leadership to Punjabis and the Sikh community, the need for which has become acute because other parties have failed. Our party will be taking up the causes of Sikhs and Punjabis with the Centre and fight for more rights for the states,” Tarsem Singh said, adding that their party would replace the SAD, which was on its way to “complete annihilation” as it had failed to reform itself.

In this scenario, preventing radical elements from capturing the mainstream Panthic space will be the biggest challenge before the SAD. The Lok Sabha wins of radicals like Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, son of Indira Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, had signalled this drift.

Also read: Punjab | Why rebellion is brewing in Shiromani Akali Dal after Lok Sabha elections

Threat of losing recognition?

Meanwhile, the SAD has apprised the Akal Takht Jathedar that reorganisation of the party through the seven-member committee formed by the highest temporal seat of Sikhs might lead to losing its recognition from the Election Commission of India as a political party should run in a secular manner and not as per directions of a religious body. However, the critics argue that it is merely a SAD ploy to deny representation to the rebels in the committee and ensure dominance of Badal loyalists in restructuring the party.

In its edict on December 2, the Akal Takht had formed a seven-member committee for starting the membership drive and holding the elections for the post of party president and other office-bearers within six months. The committee represented members of the Badal camp as well as of the now-dissolved SAD Sudhar Lehar group of rebel leaders.

The downslide

Once a dominant force in Punjab, the SAD ruled Punjab for three terms between 1997 and 2017 (from 1997 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2017), but witnessed a decline in its political fortunes ever since it was voted out of power in 2017, with the party having a lone MP in the Lok Sabha and mere two MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly today.

It all started when a confident SAD scripted history after retaining power in 2012 Punjab Assembly elections as it reversed the revolving door trend in the state’s politics by denying the Congress an opportunity to return to power after a gap of 5 years.

The trouble broke out halfway through the term (2012-17) when an ambitious Sukhbir Badal reportedly orchestrated a religious pardon for Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a blasphemy case in 2015. This was the time when Sukhbir was often accused by rivals of undermining Sikh institutions. Sukhbir had been the de facto power centre, holding the charge of both deputy CM and SAD president. His influence even extended to religious affairs like the selection of high priests.

Also read: Punjab | Sukhbir Badal resigns as Shiromani Akali Dal chief amid internal feud

This was followed by sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot district and the subsequent police firing on the Sikh protesters who were seeking justice in the case. It sparked massive outrage among the Sikhs in Punjab and it was evident in the 2017 Assembly polls when the people voted overwhelmingly for the Congress.

However, the worst came in the 2022 Assembly elections when the SAD was virtually wiped out from the state’s political landscape, bagging only three seats out of 117. The party, which lost its support base among the Sikhs, was further damaged by its dubious role prior to the 2020 farm stir when its leaders were virtually seen justifying the farm laws. Though the SAD parted ways with the BJP over the issue, but by then the damage was already done.