Sukhbir Badal enters 3rd term under shadow of revolt in Akali Dal, talks of federalism and secularism to revive party

Chandigarh: Sukhbir Singh Badal was elected as president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the second oldest and the first regional political party in the country, amidst signs of revolt. Conspicuous by his absence was Akali Dal legislature party leader in the Assembly and former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa. The Akali Dal would be 100 year old on December 14, 2010.

At a separate function in Amritsar, the disgruntled Akalis who organised a separate function under the banner of Taksali Akali Dal were joined by former Akali Dal secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa who had some months back resigned from all party posts to register his protest against what he says is the total control of the party by the House of Badals. He is the father of Parminder Singh Dhindsa and is member of the Rajya Sabha.

What is significant is the call given by Dhindsa to the Sikhs to prepare for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections as the term of its general house is already over. The power to announce general house election of this body is now with the Union Home ministry as the SGPC is acquired inter-state body status under the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966. The Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 that was enacted by the Punjab legislative council is now under the jurisdiction of the Parliament under the 1966 Act.

The SGPC is dominated by the Akali Dal, and has always been so. The Badals can be hit only by defeating the Akali Dal in the SGPC. The Akali Dal draws its legitimacy in the Sikh religio-political domain from this control over the SGPC.

Has the BJP finally given the signal to Dhindsa to mobilise the Sikhs to provide alternative to Badals? This is the basic issue in the context of revolt against the House of Badals.

Significantly, Dhindsa reiterated again today that he had not resigned from the Akali Dal.

Sukhbir, after taking over as president for the 3^rd time at general house conclave of the party in the Teja Singh Samundari Hall in the Golden Temple complex, announced his 3-point agenda of federalism, secularism and minority protection.

He spoke at length on the issue of federalism that at one time used to be the agenda of the Akali Dal. The Anandpur Sahib Resolution advocates state autonomy but Sukhbir did not mention it.

BJP, the party with which the Akali Dal has been in alliance since 1996, advocates unitary system and homogenisation is its agenda. The revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was part of the homogenisation agenda of the Sangh Parivar.

Sukhbir’s agenda of federalism contradicts with that of the BJP.

Similar is the case with his slogan of secularism. He has supported Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha that has now become an Act. This act violates the basic norms of secularism as it excludes Muslims, the first legislation of its kind since the constitution was implemented in India. People are protesting in various parts of India against this legislation. Merely saying that Muslims should not have been excluded is meaningless once the party has extended support to the Bill.

Then he talked of minority protection. It was decades back that the Akali Dal used to talk of uniting minorities. This discourse changed after Parkash Singh Badal took over as president of the party after uniting two main Akali factions in mid-nineties. The Akali Dal did not condemn the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

His 3-point agenda is contrary to the practice of the Akali Dal and this is the agenda that the party shed over the years.

What is interesting is the promise that he made to the party leaders. He said the Badal family had been in control of the Akali Dal for the last 23 years out of which the party had been in power for 15 years. He called upon the party activists to start preparing for 2022 Assembly elections in which the Akali Dal would form government and the party rule would continue to rule for 20 to 25 years.

It may be recalled that Sukhbir used to talk of 25 year rule earlier but the party faced the most humiliating defeat in the last Assembly elections in 2017 under his presidency.

He did not talk of the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib under the Badal government in 2015 when he himself was the deputy chief minister. It was this issue that had severely hit his party.

The next election to the SGPC in case held before 2022 is likely to be contested on this very agenda on which the Badals are on receiving end.