Shiromani Akali Dal membership drive faces fresh challenges as SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami quits
Internal problems complicate SAD’s efforts to boost membership ahead of presidential elections, to be held following directions from the Akal Takht.
3 min read
Dhami’s decision on Monday to request his removal from the committee has only deepened the party’s internal dilemma. (Photo: X/ @SGPCPresident)The Shiromani Akali Dal’s membership drive faces renewed challenges following the resignation of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Monday afternoon. He quit after a controversial social media post by Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Raghbir Singh, who supported Giani Harpreet Singh—whom the SGPC removed as jathedar of the Takht Damdama Sahib.
The membership drive, launched on January 20 with a target of 50 lakh members by February 20, was initiated to pave the way for the election of a new SAD president scheduled for March 1. According to SAD sources, over 40 lakh members had already been registered by the first week of February. However, allegations of fake memberships have surfaced, with Giani Harpreet Singh claiming that the process is being manipulated.
The current crisis traces its roots back to directives issued by the Akal Takht on December 2, when a tankhah (religious punishment) was imposed on former SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal by the Akal Takht jathedar. Although Badal resigned on November 16, his resignation was initially rejected by the SAD working committee, only to be eventually accepted on January 10 after the jathedar’s directives given on December 2.
In an effort to reorganise the party in line with the Akal Takht’s directives, a seven-member committee was announced to oversee the fresh membership drive. However, controversy arose when the SAD working committee established its own 13-member panel on January 10—incorporating five members from the original seven and later adding Gurpartap Singh Wadala as the sixth member. Dhami’s decision on Monday to request his removal from the committee has only deepened the party’s internal dilemma.
The seven members are Harjinder Singh Dhami, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Manpreet Singh Ayali, Iqbal Singh Jhundan, Santa Singh Umaidpur, Bibi Satwant Kaur and Kirpal Singh Badungar. Wadala was convenor of the Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar—the rebel faction that was wound up on December 8 on the directions of the Akal Takht jathedar. Ayali, an SAD MLA, has not attended any SAD meetings since April 2022. Though he never joined any rebel faction, he has expressed his differences with SAD leadership publicly on several occasions. Iqbal Singh Jhundan was head of the committee in 2022 that suggested a change in leadership of the SAD after the party’s poor performance in the 2022 Assembly polls, with Ayali as a member. Umaidpur also joined the rebel faction Sudhar Lehar last year.
The seven-member committee has so far held two meetings in February, during which it maintained that the membership drive was not being conducted in accordance with the directives issued by the Akal Takht jathedar. With mounting questions over the integrity of the membership drive and its potential impact on the upcoming party presidential election, the future direction of the SAD remains uncertain. Meanwhile, Balwinder Singh Bhunder continues to serve as the working president amid the unfolding crisis. The next meeting of the seven-member committee is on Tuesday, where they are expected to make a final decision regarding the membership drive. However, ahead of that, Dhami has submitted his resignation as SGPC president and asked the jathedar to relieve him from the chairmanship of the seven-member committee as well.
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