Decode Politics: Why Akal Takht Jathedar’s role is under scrutiny amid open war between SAD rebels, Sukhbir Badal

In the multi-cornered polls, the SAD, contesting separately from its erstwhile ally BJP, suffered a rout as it managed to win just one seat – Bathinda, Badals’ home turf, retained by Harsimrat Kaur, wife of Sukhbir – out of 13 as against the Congress’s seven and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s three, with the remaining two seats won by Independent candidates – radical preacher Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa (son of Indira Gandhi assassin Beant Singh) from Faridkot.

The complex equations between the SAD, SGPC and Akal Takht seem to be at the centre of the crisis facing the Akali politics in the state.

Akali rebels at Akal Takht

Days after the Lok Sabha poll outcome, several rebel SAD leaders – including ex-SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, ex-minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, ex-minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Sucha Singh Chhotepur – appeared before the Akal Takht in Amritsar on July 1 and sought forgiveness for “mistakes” that led to “people’s disillusionment with the party when it was in power in Punjab from 2007 to 2017”. They also submitted a letter to the Jathedar, blaming Sukhbir over various decisions during the SAD-led government’s tenure that “harmed” the party.

Among such issues, their letter referred to the 2015 sacrilege incidents, saying the then SAD government could not ensure punishment for the guilty. The letter mentioned that Sukhbir allegedly used his “influence on Akal Takht” to ensure a pardon for Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was booked in 2007 for allegedly imitating Guru Gobind Singh.

The rebel Akali leaders alleged that the SGPC had spent nearly Rs 90 lakh on the newspaper advertisements to justify the decision of pardoning the Dera chief.

They also slammed the then Akali government for appointing Sumedh Singh Saini as the director general of police, saying he was “notorious for fake police encounters resulting in the martyrdom of Sikh youths”. Their letter stated that “The then government also gave a ticket to the wife of another such officer who had formed the Alam Sena to carry out (such) killings, and made her a chief parliamentary secretary”.

Short history of SAD discontent

All the SAD rebels had been part of its government or the party organisation when Sukhbir allegedly took the above decisions that they have flagged now. They had, however, not objected to those moves then.

Apart from Jagir Kaur, Akali veteran Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and his son and ex-minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa had raised the banner of revolt against the SAD leadership in recent years in the wake of the party’s losses in various Assembly or Lok Sabha polls. However, they returned to the SAD fold in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Dhindsa father-son duo were surprised when Sukhbir decided not to give them the party ticket from the Sangrur seat in the recent polls. Jagir Kaur was aspiring for the SGPC president’s post again in 2022, but Sukhbir preferred Dhami over her.

After leaving the SAD a few years ago, the Dhindsa family had also tried to mobilise other party dissidents by floating an outfit. They however faced debacle in the 2022 Assembly elections, which was one of the key reasons behind their return to the SAD before the Lok Sabha polls.

Senior SAD leaders Prem Singh Chandumajra and Gurpartap Singh Wadala

have openly come out against Sukhbir for the first time after the party’s decimation in the 2024 elections.

Another dissident Sucha Singh Chhotepur joined the SAD before the 2022 elections. He had been with the AAP when various controversial decisions were taken by the SAD dispensation, and had played a role in fuelling public blowback against it.

SAD leader Surjit Singh Rakhra has also spoken out against Sukhbir’s leadership for the first time.

Another Akali leader Sikander Singh Maluka has now also rebelled against Sukhbir. He had been sentenced twice by the Akal Takht for breaking the religious code of conduct in the last 10 years. His daughter-in-law Parminder Kaur contested as the BJP candidate against Harsimrat Badal from the Bathinda seat in the 2024 polls. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi just before the polling day.

How SAD crisis may play out

Akal Takht is the Sikh community’s apex religious institution where it can seek apology for any religious or ethical misconduct. With the rebel SAD leaders now taking the party’s political crisis to the Akal Takht for its resolution, Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh’s role in tackling it would be closely watched.

Significantly, the pardon to Gurmeet Ram Rahim was granted by the Akal Takht in 2015. The SAD leadership has always claimed that it has never interfered in the Akal Takht’s functioning and had nothing to do with the pardon granted to the Dera head. However, several party rebels have alleged Sukhbir’s influence in the Dera chief matter. The then Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh had drawn heat from various quarters for granting pardon to the Dera chief.

So all eyes are now on how Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh deals with the accusations against the Akali Dal chief. His move to not name Sukhbir while seeking his explanation has already sparked a row.

Despite the SAD’s electoral defeats, Sukhbir has always relied on the party’s organisational heft that its splinter outfits have lacked. However, the repeated failures of the Akali Dal’s poll machinery has now pushed the party – and Sukhbir’s leadership – to the brink.

The SAD dissidents have been blaming Sukhbir for the party’s failings on various fronts. However, there are apprehensions in the Akali Dal circles that with the weakening of the party, the Panthic vote bank would disintegrate. However, observers have argued that the wins of Amritpal and Sarabjit indicate that the Panthic vote bank has not shrunk. The key question doing the rounds is, could Sukhbir bounce back and enable the SAD to get its act together, or new players would rise to fill the vacuum in the Akali politics.