Issue of collective leadership by presidium comes up at working committee meeting of Shiromani Akali Dal
Issue of
leadership by presidium comes up at working committee meeting of Akali Dal
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
Shiromani
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal who is confronted with the worst ever existential
crisis of the party in last two decades was cautioned by a senior leader
against sycophants at the working committee meeting of the party here
yesterday.
The proposal
of collective leadership for the time being to revive and rejuvenate the party
was learnt to have been firmly raised.
The move to
take disciplinary action against senior party leader and soft target Jagmeet
Singh Brar had to be abandoned amidst opposition.
Lastly, Badal
himself turned down the proposal to express confidence in his leadership as had
been done a day earlier at the meeting of the former district presidents of the
party.
Among those
who ostensibly were not invited to the meeting included Leader of the 3-member Akali
Dal Legislature Party Manpreet Singh Ayali, Bhai Manjit Singh and Jagmeet Singh
Brar. There is confusion over the list of members of the working committee that
otherwise had been dissolved by party president.
It may be
mentioned that a section of the senior leaders has been expressing concern over
the future of the party that had evolved as an institution of the Sikhs but has
been on the decline since 2012. The Akali Dal was replaced by the rookie Aam
Aadmi Party as the main opposition in 2017 Assembly elections and now stands
reduced to just three seats in last Assembly polls. Not only that. The unabated
fall was further reflected in the recent Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection when the
party received the lowest votes amongst
the main political parties, less than even its former alliance partner the Bharatiya
Janata Party despite the fact that this area at one time used to be the Akali
stronghold.
The senior
leaders have been holding meetings and deliberating upon the situation.
The initiative
to vent the feeling publicly was first taken by Ayali when he went against the
party decision to vote for BJP candidate in the presidential election. The crisis
continues.
The B team
was fielded to confront the senior leaders but that has failed to make any
impact as the status quo so far as deepening crisis is concerned continues.
It was in
this context that the issue of collective leadership in the Sikh tradition of Panj Piaras was made by senior leader Prem Singh Chandumajra. He
is learnt to have asserted that the fundamental issue was solution to the
existential crisis of this historical party with its glorious past and
tradition and not that of the leadership by a particular leader.
He had only
articulated the view that has evolved at the successive meetings of the senior
leaders.
It may be
mentioned that the party has been under the control of the House of Badals since
1996 and the party leadership turned unipolar in 2004 after the passing away of
stalwart Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra.
As such, all
the credit and discredit go to this unchallenged leadership.
The Iqbal
Singh Jhoonda committee that was set up to talk to party’s rank and file and
suggest measures for rejuvenation recommended complete overhaul without mentioning
any particular office. This report has not been released.
Besides Ayali,
yet another leader who has been publicly stressing the need for introspection
and change is Brar who earlier had a long stint with the Congress but belongs
to traditional Akali family. It was proposed by a member that action should be
taken against him but the move got scuttled due to opposition from some senior
leaders.
One of the
senior leaders cautioned Badal to beware of “Chaploos leaders” saying such
people might be needed by a leader when in power but not when the threat is to
the very existence of the party.
The word “Chaploos”
was used in the context of yet another
senior leader.
The basic
issue is the policies and politics of the party over the years that has landed
the party in this situation and stands dumped repeatedly by the people.
The
situation calls for drastic overhaul, not only at the level of leadership but
also its politics and policies.
However, no
lessons seem to have been learnt by a section of the leaders who form the
coterie.
I fully agree with your opinion. I may add without particular reference to any one party that intra party democracy is of utmost importance. The leaders should not loose contact with the grass root workers. The ideology of the party should be given more importance. Nobody in the party leadership should be considered indispensable.
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