Rebels announce ‘sudhar lehar’ to uplift SAD; ‘no space for them in party’, says Cheema

Meanwhile, at a special meeting of the entire senior leadership, addressed by core committee member Balwinder Singh Bhundar, the Akali Dal said there was no space in the party head office for those leaders who launched a programme against the party, asserting the SAD workers would not tolerate such elements.

A group of senior party leaders last month launched a rebellion against Badal demanding that he step down as SAD chief following the party’s continued debacle in Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections. Those who revolted include former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, former ministers Sikandar Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sarwan Singh Phillaur and Surjit Singh Rakhra, and party leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur.

Gurpartap Singh Wadala said that “Sikh Panth is going through a difficult time and we are facing a leadership crisis and this vacuum needs to be filled”.

“After conducting a series of meetings, we have decided to launch the SAD Sudhar Lehar. We have appointed Wadala as its convener. We will announce its presidium in 2-3 days time,” said Jagir Kaur.

Wadala said that “Sikh Panth is going through a difficult time and we are facing a leadership crisis and this vacuum needs to be filled”.

“In its present condition, the very existence of Akali Dal is in danger. It is high time we work for the Panth. We request all Punjabis and ‘pro-panth’ people to support us in this movement,” said Wadala while addressing the media after the meeting.

“Our focus is to unite the Sikh panth under one flag. We will also revive All India Sikh Students Federation,” said Wadala.

He also hit out at Badal for bringing “corporate culture” in the SAD, and said people rejected the same and have drifted away from the Panthic outfit.

As part of the ‘Sudhar Lehar’, Wadala said they will connect with leaders who were expelled by the Akali Dal but follow the party ideology. “We will involve them in this movement. We will also get the old Taksali Akalis sitting at home to join the movement,” he said, adding they will also observe birth anniversaries of prominent leaders who made huge contributions and made sacrifices for the party.

Giving examples, he said former SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra’s 100th birth anniversary will be observed on September 30. The death anniversary of former president of SAD Harchand Singh Longowal will be observed in August, he said.

“We will try to get intelligentsia, historians, thinkers, and like-minded people to join the movement. It is high time we did introspection. If vote share of Bathinda (Lok Sabha election) is taken, Akali Dal secured only 7 per cent of the rural vote share. It is a wake up call,” Wadala said.

He said the party should have implemented the Jhundan committee report, which mainly had recommended change in leadership. Had it been implemented two years back, the situation of the party would have been different, he said.

The SAD had set up the Iqbal Singh Jhundan-led committee to analyse the reasons for its humiliating defeat in the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls.

He also rejected the allegations by Akali Dal leader that rebels were B-team of the BJP. “ That party has nothing to do with Sikh politics. Instead, BJP’s maximum connection was with the Badal family where (Bathinda MP) Harsimrat Kaur Badal served as Union minister and late Parkash Singh Badal had given unconditional support to the saffron party while stitching an alliance with them”.

Meanwhile, referring to the rebels, senior SAD party leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said, “Leaders who are allowing themselves to be addressed as rebels, did not attend the meeting even though an open invitation had been sent to all. Now when they have launched an agitation against their own party, they are laying claim to hold meetings at the party office here. There is no space for them here,” Cheema said.

Cheema made it clear that the party had a constitution and an elected president is Badal. “The president is elected through a democratic process as per laid down norms. The party office is also run as per the guidelines given by the president. You cannot challenge the leadership of the party president and then lay claim to the party office”.

Reacting to Cheema’s remarks, Wadala said, “Party office is common to everyone, but we will not go there forcefully. Time will tell, which Akali Dal will remain. We are walking the extra mile to save the existence of Akali Dal, so expulsion is a very small thing”.

Giving details of the meetings at party headquarters, Cheema said a meeting was held to galvanise the party workers for enrolling voters for the ensuing SGPC elections. “The party leaders gave suggestions in this regard and it was decided to make efforts to ensure maximum enrolment of voters in the coming days,” he said.