SAD expels Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa for indulging in ‘anti-party activities’

The committee also alleged that the entire conspiracy to weaken the party was ‘scripted in Nagpur’.

Briefing the media about the decision, Grewal said, “The committee was of the opinion that Dhindsa was not upholding the honour of his post. He was not only issuing unauthorised statements but also acting against the party’s constitution and its rich and glorious tradition.”

He said the disciplinary committee also took into account the various statements issued by Dhindsa in the recent past as well as “the manner in which he took on the leadership of the eight expelled party leaders on Wednesday”.

The disciplinary committee had expelled eight senior leaders for indulging in anti-party activities. Dhindsa had told the media that the disciplinary panel did not have the power to expel leaders. The right to expel anyone lies with the working committee, not the disciplinary committee, he had said.

Bhundur said, “Dhindsa has forced the party to take this action. The SAD on its part had invited all the disgruntled Akali leaders to attend the party meetings and discuss their misgivings. Instead of doing this the disgruntled leaders became part of a conspiracy scripted in Nagpur to weaken and divide the party. These leaders have even given credence to the wild allegations of the main perpetrator of the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in 2015. When due action was taken against them, Dhindsa tried to come to their rescue and even tried to mislead the party cadre by asserting that he has overruled the same (expulsion action). Now, the party has taken a definite action against Dhindsa to set the record straight.”

The committee said that indiscipline would not be tolerated at any cost, even as it appealed to Punjabis to shun opportunist people who have entered into a conspiracy with agencies to weaken the party.

The panel also made it clear that it was working as per the party’s constitution and that it has been entrusted to take required actions by the powers vested in the working committee. The disciplinary committee members said the expelled leaders were free to requisition a meeting of the working committee, even as they asserted that 98% of the working committee members have reposed faith in the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Grewal clarified that the post of party patron was an honorary one and that the latter did not have any power to take any decision on behalf of the party. He also dismissed Dhindsa’s contention that the expelled leaders had tried to initiate a reform movement in the party. “Building a parallel organisation along with a presidium can only be considered as an anti-party activity,” he said, adding that Dhindsa had as disciplinary committee chairman expelled then Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gurcharan Singh Tohra from the party for appealing to Akaili partriarch Parkash Singh Badal to appoint an acting president for the party. He also cited how Dhindsa did not find anything wrong with Sukhbir Singh Badal’s conduct when he rejoined the party on March 5 this year but started questioning the latter’s leadership when his son Parminder Dhindsa was not given the party ticket from Sangrur for the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Grewal while speaking about the role of another expelled leader – Prem Singh Chandumajra – said the latter had approved Operation Black Thunder (to remove the militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1980s) as a Cabinet minister in 1985 and had even hailed the “pardon” granted to the Dera Sirsa head (Gurmeet Ram Rahim in 2007 blasphemy case). He said for Chandumajra the party president was good till the latter acceded to all his demands, including two assembly seat tickets for his family and a Lok Sabha ticket for himself.