Embroiled in its worst-ever political crisis, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has decided to reach out to its disgruntled and rebel leaders to pacify them and bring back to the party fold.
The decision, taken by party core group, came a day after SAD chief Sukhbir Badal offered to step down from the coveted post, apparently to ebb the burgeoning rebellion within the party facing heat from the traditional and senior Akali leaders for his style of functioning.
During the core committee meeting, the leaders discussed the issue of growing dissidence within the party at length, with all present agreeing on initiating the process of winning them over.
The party’s core group would again meet on November 1 to further chalk out its strategy.
Senior and Taksali leaders have raised a banner of revolt against the functioning style of the party’s current “young” leadership, headed by Sukhbir.
While the taksali leadership in Majha region has openly challenged Sukhbir and his style of functioning, the two senior leaders, next to Akali patriarch and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, have decided to stay away from active politics citing “poor health”.
Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, and Lok Sabha MP from Khadoor Sahib Ranjit Sing Brahmpura have recently resigned from all party posts, while announcing that they would not contest elections.
Besides Brahmpura, three more senior leaders from Majha — Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Ratan Singh Ajnala, and Bhai Manjit Singh — have also revolted openly against the party, raising slew of issues, including questioning the Akal Takht pardon to Sirsa-based Dera set head Ram Rahim Singh, and series of sacrilege incidents.
Badals, the father-son duo of Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir — had ruled Punjab for a decade, until they were ousted by the Congress last year. When on a winning spree, everyone appreciated Sukhbir’s election management skill, accrediting a shift from SAD’s style of traditional panthic politics to the one based on development agenda.
But the series of sacrilege incidents and the related firing incidents, coupled with SAD-administered apology to Dera Sacha Sauda sect head, had hurt SAD’s image to a large extent, with its own leaders going against the party. Party’s resounding defeat in 2017 polls was also attributed to the same reasons.
Soon after Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report was tabled in the Vidhan Sabha, pointing finger at the role of the then SAD-BJP government, especially the then Chief Minister Badal, the Akali leaders started distancing themselves from the party.
The report has indicted that Senior Badal for his role in the police killing of innocent Sikhs, two years ago when they were peacefully protesting the desecration of the sacred Guru Granth Sahib.
Facing heat from a section of senior party leaders, Sukhbir on Sunday had said that he was “duty bound to do whatever the party asks me to do. If it demands my resignation, I am ready for it”.
Earlier also, Sukhbir had stated that SAD was not a “property” of the Badal family and somebody else could represent it after a few years.