In SAD action against Jagir Kaur, Sukhbir Badal’s attempts to hold on to party

SAD was a long-term ally of the BJP before snapping ties with it in 2020 over the controversial farm laws. Recently, Badal held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, which triggered rumours that the two parties might patch up.

Announcing Kaur’s suspension, a SAD spokesperson said: “The Sikh community will never tolerate the handing over of the management of its gurdwaras to the BJP and RSS.”

While Kaur was once considered a staunch loyalist of the Badals, SAD has been roiled by fissures since its second-successive poll defeat in Punjab earlier this year, prompting calls that Sukhbir must step down. Badal, in turn, has sought to cement his control over the party by dissolving various structures.

The first woman SGPC president, Kaur did not contest the presidential poll last year in November 2021 as SAD wanted her to stand for the Assembly elections that were to follow. She was replaced as SGPC president by the low-profile Harjinder Singh Dhami, a choice of Badal.

However, Kaur lost in the polls, as did the entire top brass of SAD, including the Badals. Being the most experienced SGPC member, she expected to be backed by SAD as SGPC president — till she was suspended.

While Kaur can still contest, she would need a majority of the SGPC members to rebel against the Badals to win, which seems a distant possibility for now.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Kaur denies any ties with the RSS or BJP, and insists her goal is not just the SGPC presidential election but “setting the agenda” for the overdue SGPC general house elections. She also wants the presidential election to become “democratic” by allowing more than one member from SAD to contest for it.

“There are problems with the SGPC working style. This is why the people are turning away from us… It makes people angry when the name of the SGPC president comes out of a lifafa (envelope, handed over by SAD). I had no problem with it. In fact it’s an easy way to become president. But my concern is to win back the confidence of Sangat (the community) towards SAD and SGPC,” Kaur says.

With fingers being pointed at him over Kaur’s suspension, Badal Thursday said he respects her a lot and had never said no to her for anything. Asked why he said the BJP was supporting her for president, Badal accused National Commission for Minorities Chairman and BJP leader Iqbal Singh Lalpura of trying to break the SGPC by seeking support for Kaur’s candidature.

In a Facebook post Thursday, the SAD chief also said that 15 members of the SGPC, who had left SAD over different reasons, had returned to the party fold.

The indomitable Kaur

A backward class leader, the 66-year-old Kaur was a teacher before she quit in 1987 to become the head of the Sikh Dera of Baba Prem Singh Murale Wale after the death of her husband. She started in politics with SAD (Amritsar), later moving to SAD before the 1997 Assembly elections.

SAD, then led by Parkash Singh Badal, gave her a ticket from Bholath Assembly constituency, where the dera she headed has a large following. Her opponent was Sukhpal Singh Khira, the son of firebrand Akali politician and former minister Sukhjinder Singh. After she proved a giant-killer in her first election, Kaur was made a minister.

She won in 2002 and 2012 as well, while serving intermittently as SGPC president — from March 1999 to November 2000 and September 2004 to November 2005. Even her elevation as SGPC president by Badal Sr was a power play on his part, as Kaur replaced tall leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who had fallen out with the Badals.

While Kaur was initially considered a Badal crony, she took to the job fast, proving herself an aggressive leader and making her own space in Panthic politics. One example was the disputed Nanakshahi calendar, backed by Kaur and over which she had her say.

Kaur also survived murder charges over the death of her daughter in 2002, with a CBI court holding her guilty in 2012 of “honour killing”. While the Punjab and Haryana High court acquitted her of all charges in December 2018, Kaur was indebted to the Badals for not abandoning her, though SAD could not offer her a consequential post during this time to avoid controversy.

In 2019, Kaur, during planning of celebrations of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, had a tussle with former Union minister and Sukhbir Badal’s wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal over an issue related to the Sikh Code of Conduct. A staunch votary of the code, Kaur didn’t budge, forcing Harsimrat to step back.

When others thought her career over, Kaur again proved a survivor by returning as SGPC president in 2020.