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Akali Dal crisis deepens as party patron revokes rebels’ expulsion
Senior rebel leaders have been targeting Sukhbir Badal, accusing him of “compromising on Panth sentiments for political gains and not representing the sentiments of the community”
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa
| Photo Credit: Akhilesh Kumar
The crises in Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which has been passing through a difficult phase, appears to be deepening amid rebellion within the party against the top party leadership.
On Wednesday, a day after the party’s disciplinary committee expelled eight rebel leaders and a few other leaders from the primary membership of the party on the pretext of indulging in anti-party activities, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, the party patron, revoked the expulsion of the leaders.
As Mr. Dhindsa revoked the expulsion of senior leaders who have rebelled against party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, he said their expulsion was against the party constitution. “I will write to Mr. Sukhbir Badal to seek a reply on this. Also, we will call a general house to elect a new party president,” he said.
The senior rebel leaders have been targeting Mr. Sukhbir Badal, accusing him of “compromising on Panth [Sikh community] sentiments for political gains and not representing the sentiments of the community.”
The eight senior leaders who have been expelled from the primary membership of the party include — ex-MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, ex-SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former ministers Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sikander Singh Maluka, Surjit Singh Rakhra. Also, Surinder Singh Thekedar and Charanjit Singh Brar were shown the door.
Hitting out at rebels, SAD leader Balwinder Bhundur, meanwhile, said party patron Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa did not have any authority to stay the proceedings of the disciplinary committee, which had expelled eight senior leaders.
‘It was unfortunate’
“Mr. Dhindsa is a senior leader and should know that the party patron cannot overrule any party decisions,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that instead of advising the party rank and file not to indulge in anti-party activities, Mr. Dhindsa had chosen to lead the team of expelled leaders and was acting like a self-styled dictator by trying to override decisions taken as per the party’s constitution.
The rebel leaders, who have been seeking the ouster of Mr. Badal, earlier this month appeared before the Akal Takht — the highest Sikh temporal seat in Amritsar, and submitted a letter to apologise and sought forgiveness for the four mistakes when their party was in power between 2007 and 2017. They held Mr. Badal, who was the Deputy Chief Minister at that time, responsible for the “mistakes”.
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Shiromani Akali Dal