Akali party leaderless, our expulsion illegal, says Dhindsa

Former Union minister Sukhdev Dhindsa said a delegate meeting will be called to establish a new party structure. Says Sukhbir has no right to continue as the party chief after the revelation made by a Dera leader

Dhindsa's announcement has created a flutter in the party circle. (File)

4 min readLudhianaJul 31, 2024 08:10 PM IST First published on: Jul 31, 2024 at 08:10 PM IST

Declaring the expulsion of eight senior leaders by the Akali Dal Disciplinary Committee “null and void”, Shiromani Akali Dal patron Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa Wednesday said the party has become leaderless with party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal losing the trust of the rank and file and the public after the revelation made by the Dera Sacha Sauda political wing head.

Dhindsa said a delegate meeting would soon be called to establish a new party structure. “I have decided to call a delegate meeting to elect new office-bearers, including the party president, to rejuvenate the party. The time and place for the general meeting will soon be announced after consulting senior party leaders,” Dhindsa told mediapersons.

“With the political wing head of the Dera Sacha Sauda disclosing that Sukhbir had met Dera chief Ram Rahim in violation of the order from the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Sukhbir no longer has the right to continue as the party president. Sukhbir continues to be the party president against the wishes of party workers and the majority of the Sikh community. He has lost the trust of the party and the public. The party has become leaderless,” Dhindsa said.

Dhindsa was referring to the allegations levelled by Dera Sirsa leader and prime accused in the Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case Pardeep Kler.

Dhindsa’s announcement has created a flutter in the party circle.

The SAD expelled eight rebel leaders from the party’s primary membership Tuesday for their alleged involvement in anti-party activities. The eight expelled leaders are former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former ministers Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sikander Singh Maluka and Surjit Singh Rakhra, and Surinder Singh Thekedar and Charanjit Singh Brar. The SAD, however, did not expel Dhindsa senior, whom Sukhbir had described as a “party patron” when he merged his party SAD(Sanyukt) with the SAD on March 5.

Dhindsa said the party’s disciplinary committee decision to expel leaders was entirely against the party’s constitution and traditions, hence “we declare the expulsion null and void”.

He emphasised, “Only the party’s working committee has the authority to expel a leader for anti-party activities or causing harm to the party in any way. The disciplinary committee can only make recommendations to the working committee or the party president. Moreover, before taking action, no committee meeting was called, no notice was served to the expelled leaders, and only Balwinder Singh Bhundar announced the expulsion of the senior leaders, which is completely unconstitutional.”

Dhindsa accused Sukhbir of “violating the order of the Sri Akal Takht Sahib by meeting Ram Rahim, an accused of conspiring the desecration of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, for personal and political gains. Dera leader Pradeep Kler accused Sukhbir of conspiring with Ram Rahim. This has brought disgrace to the party and the Sikh community. This grave sin has deeply hurt the sentiments of the entire Nanak Naam Leva community.”

SAD (Sudhar Lehar) convenor Gurpratap Singh Wadala said, “We appealed to all workers, circle presidents, members of the Shiromani Committee and district presidents of the SAD to come forward as the party is facing a severe crisis due to the actions of the party president, who has brought disgrace to everyone.”

Wadala appealed to all workers and leaders to support the SAD reform movement.

Bibi Jagir Kaur, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Charanjit Singh Brar, Surinder Singh Bhulewal Ratha, Baldev Singh Mann, Gaganjeet Singh Barnala, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, and Parminder Singh Dhindsa were among other prominent leaders present at the press conference.