Akal Takht asks SAD to expel Valtoha for 'character assassination' of jathedars

Akal Takht has “ordered the expulsion” of Virsa Singh Valtoha from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) while “holding him guilty of denting the credibility” of takht jathedars.

Valtoha was summoned today by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh for allegedly indulging in the character assassination of jathedars in public domain through social media while being “under the influence of the BJP-led Central government and the RSS”.

After failing to prove his claims with “concrete evidence” before the Five High Priests, assembled at the Akal Takht, Giani Raghbir Singh “directed SAD working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar to expel Valtoha from the party within 24 hours, terminate his primary membership for the next 10 years and bar him from participating in any party activity till then”.

The closed-door conversation between the Five High Priests and Valtoha was also videographed during the meeting that lasted for over two hours.

Later, Giani Raghbir Singh revealed that Valtoha had targeted him and Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh. He had alleged that Giani Harpreet Singh had been conspiring at the behest of the BJP-RSS to get Sukhbir Badal removed from the SAD president’s post, but could not present substantial proof in this regard.

Giani Raghbir Singh also made another shocking revelation that Valtoha had “threatened” him too against taking any stern action pertaining to “tankhaiya” Sukhbir Singh Badal and had “recorded the conversation secretly, which was morally, ethically and legally incorrect”.

“While I was not keeping well last week, Valtoha had visited me at my residence on the pretext of knowing about my well-being. After a normal exchange of words, he ‘threatened’ me that if any verdict was pronounced against Sukhbir Singh Badal, he would confront it. Besides, it was totally unethical and a betrayal on his part to record the chat between us without my knowledge through his mobile phone,” he said.

Giani Raghbir Singh said that Valtoha had submitted his written clarification in person, but his claims were found to be frivolous and baseless. “The SAD working president has been directed to terminate Valtoha’s primary membership and bar his participation in any party activity for next 10 years. If still he fails to comply with the orders, he should be ready to face further stern action”, he said.

On August 30, the Akal Takht had declared Sukhbir Singh Badal ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) for taking controversial decisions while heading the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and being the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab from 2007-2017, but the quantum of punishment was kept reserved.

On his social media page, Valtoha had queried about the delay in pronouncing the ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) to Sukhbir. Valtoha had claimed that in response to his post, he had received “shocking feedback” that jathedars, allegedly under the influence of the BJP-RSS, intended to remove Sukhbir as the SAD president.