BJP alliance uncertain, Sukhbir faces heat after Modi calls Dhindsa ‘real heir’ of Parkash Badal

One of the oldest allies of the BJP and a founding member of the NDA, the

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) led by Sukhbir Badal, the son of Parkash Badal, had walked out of the NDA in September 2020 in protest against the now-repealed farm laws.

Although there are signs that the BJP and the Akali Dal are considering a revival of their ties for the 2024 polls, both the parties have brushed aside the alliance question so far.

Meanwhile, the PM’s comment has put the spotlight on Dhindsa and his breakaway Akali Dal outfit, SAD (Sanyukt). With the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction also present at the NDA meet, the PM said, “Today, the real heirs of Parkash Singh Badal ji and Balasaheb Thackeray ji are among us.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said, “Maybe it was on his (PM’s) mind that the whole arrangement between Vajpayee (Atal Behari Vajpayee) sahib and Badal (Parkash Singh Badal) sahib and between BJP and Akali Dal at that time was to maintain peace and communal harmony in Punjab. I think that very spirit prevails even today though our partner may have parted on certain issues. But the underlying issue of peace and harmony is very much in the mind of PM Modi and that guides our any arrangement, current or in future.”

Senior Punjab BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal said, “Dhindsa sahib remained very close associate of Badal (Parkash Singh Badal) sahib. Sukhbir Badal threw him out of the party by insulting him. Badal sahib was a nationalist leader and so is Dhindsa sahib. And I think it is essential to honour them and their ideology and carrying forward the legacy. Sukhbir Badal should also respect the ideology of Badal sahib. He is not doing it. Akali Dal does not belong to one family, as it has emerged out of struggles.”

Grewal also said, “The youth of Punjab, especially Sikh youth, is getting attracted to radicals in Punjab and abroad. To give this youth right direction, it is important to strengthen Shiromani Akali Dal. This youth will not align with us nor it will go with Congress. They can only associate with SAD, not even with Aam Aadmi Party, though they aligned with them in the beginning. So, Akali Dal should not be finished and I am of the view it should be somehow saved. It could be saved only if Sukhbir Badal resigns and any common person is made the party president. But he insists not to quit as party chief.”

Seeking to downplay the matter, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said, “Dhindsa sahib remained a long-time associate of Badal (Parkash Badal) and stood by him. PM Modi knows that. Now, when the situation has changed, he (Dhindsa) is not with the Akali Dal. But, this is a known fact that he remained very close to Badal sahib. And if PM Modi has praised both Badal sahib and him, it is not surprising.”

Akali veteran Dhindsa has been a four-time MLA, three-time Rajya Sabha member and one-term Lok Sabha MP. He was one of the the first Akali Dal leaders to raise a banner of revolt against Sukhbir, blaming him squarely for the party’s debacle in the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, when it could win only 15 of the state’s total 117 seats. In the 2022 polls, the SAD’s tally plunged further, down to just three seats.

Dhindsa first resigned from all his Akali Dal posts in 2018 and quit as the party leader in the Rajya Sabha next year before going on to form his own outfit, SAD (Democratic).

In April 2021, the SAD (Democratic) merged with another breakaway faction of the Akali Dal, SAD (Taksali), which was floated by Ranjit Singh Brahampura, to form the SAD (Sanyukt). Brahampura had also rebelled against Sukhbir, although he rejoined the Akali Dal in December 2021.

The BJP’s association with Dhindsa is not new. The saffron party contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with the SAD (Sanyukt) and the

Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), which was floated by former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh (now a BJP leader) after he fell out with the Congress. Their alliance contested on 116 seats. The BJP, which fought from 73 seats, could win only two seats, while none of the candidates fielded by Dhindsa’s party (contested 15 seats) and the PLC (contested 28 seats) could win any seat.

Dhindsa started his political innings as a student leader in the 1950s while studying in the Government Ranbir College, Sangrur, first serving as the secretary of the College Student Council and then its president. After completing studies, he was elected as the sarpanch of his native village Ubhawal in Sangrur. He subsequently served as the Block Samiti chairman and the Sangrur District Cooperative Bank’s managing director.

Dhindsa made his debut in the Punjab Assembly polls in 1972, winning as an Independent candidate from the Dhanaula seat. He later joined the Akali Dal and was re-elected as an MLA in 1977 (Sunam), 1980 (Sangrur) and 1985 (Sunam) on its tickets.

Dhindsa was close to Akali stalwart Harchand Singh Longowal and credits him for bringing him into the SAD fold.

Longowal was assassinated on August 20, 1985, less than a month after he signed the Rajiv-Longowal accord, also known as the Punjab accord. Subsequently, Dhindsa joined the Akali Dal’s Badal faction after Parkash Singh Badal and a number of Akali leaders fell out with the then Punjab CM Surjit Singh Barnala.

In the 1997 polls, Dhindsa lost to the Congress’s Bhagwan Dass Arora in Sunam. In April 1998, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He was later inducted into the Vajpayee-led NDA ministry and handled various portfolios such as chemical and fertilisers, youth affairs and sports, mining, urban employment and poverty alleviation during his ministerial stint till May 2004.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Dhindsa won from Sangrur, even as the Congress-led UPA clinched the polls and formed its government.

He was re-elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 2010 and 2016 as an Akali Dal nominee.

Asked about the PM’s remarks about him at the NDA meet, Dhindsa told The Indian Express: “Among Akali Dal leaders I was counted as one of the closest to Sardar Parkash Singh Badal. Our differences cropped up only due to Sukhbir Badal.”