Amritsar, July 28 — The rift within the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) widened further as the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led faction officially rejected the rebel group’s invitation to join the upcoming August 11 election of new office-bearers, dismissing it as illegitimate and unnecessary.
Senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the party already held internal elections on April 13, re-electing Sukhbir Singh Badal as president, and accused the rebel faction of misleading the Panth with a “farce” membership campaign. “The members they inducted have no meaning, as the party they joined doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
The rebel group, including leaders like Manpreet Singh Ayali, Jagir Kaur, and Gurpartap Singh Wadala, has argued that the August 11 election is crucial to revive and democratise the SAD, claiming they are acting under the Akal Takht’s directives for unity and restructuring. Ayali said the aim was to make SAD a strong regional force once again.
The rebellion traces back to June last year, when discontented leaders launched the Akali Dal Bachao Lehar, demanding Sukhbir’s ouster. The crisis deepened on December 2, 2024, when the Akal Takht imposed a tankha (religious punishment) on Sukhbir and others for alleged lapses during his tenure as deputy CM and asked him to resign.
The Akal Takht had also directed the formation of a seven-member committee to lead a new membership drive and conduct internal elections within six months. However, the process ran into trouble when key members Harjinder Singh Dhami and Kirpal Singh Badungar resigned, leaving the panel with just five members.
Despite this, the rebel camp claims to have inducted 26 lakh new members, while the Sukhbir faction questions both the legitimacy of the committee and the drive itself, asserting that the party’s legal and organisational control remains intact.
Cheema reiterated that the SAD never pushed for a renewed alliance with the BJP, responding to BJP’s newly appointed Punjab working president Ashwani Sharma, who recently ruled out any tie-up. “We fought 2022 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha polls solo. The idea of an alliance exists only in speculation,” Cheema said.
SAD’s political fortunes, however, continue to decline. The party won only three assembly seats in 2022 and managed just one Lok Sabha seat (Bathinda) in 2024, with its candidates losing deposits in ten constituencies. Meanwhile, the BJP, too, fared poorly in Punjab, failing to win a single parliamentary seat.
Despite calls from Akal Takht for unity and the dissolution of the rebel group last December, reconciliation seems unlikely. SAD leaders remain firm that the restructuring mandate has already been fulfilled through the April elections and that Sukhbir Singh Badal remains the legitimate party president.
