SAD crisis

THE drubbing in the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022 was a massive personal setback for the top leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Both stalwart Parkash Singh Badal and his son, party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, faced the ignominy of defeat. Early this year, Sukhbir embarked on a months-long ‘Punjab Bachao Yatra’, aiming to infuse energy into the party’s demoralised rank and file ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. He had a bigger mission in mind — reconnecting with Punjab, something the party has been finding hard to do. Yet, 10 of SAD’s candidates lost their deposit in the polls. Its overall vote share went down. The party slid to the fourth position, falling behind even its former junior partner, the BJP. As Sukhbir faces a fresh banner of revolt, the Akalis find themselves at a crossroads.

There is a school of thought that sees the SAD’s decline as particularly worrisome, since it shrinks the space for divergent views that a party championing regional identity politics and a federal polity provides. The possibility of a radical streak filling the space that has been ceded only increases. Concerns have been raised about this scenario playing out in Punjab. Since it lost power in 2017, the SAD has faced dissension over Sukhbir’s leadership and the Badal family’s control over the party. The core support base is drifting away, veteran leaders have been warning, as the party struggles to regain trust. The 2015 sacrilege incidents continue to haunt the SAD. The flip-flop over re-aligning with the BJP hints at indecision and a lack of direction.

The SAD working committee has authorised Sukhbir to reconstitute and restructure the party. He may manage to retain control, but it would be self-defeating to ignore calls for the SAD to look within and reinvent itself.