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.