Key Shiromani Akali Dal panels rally behind Sukhbir Badal, approve his decision to expel rebels

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 6

The Shiromani Akali Dal working committee and the core committee today stamped the authority of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was under pressure from rebels and several experts on Akali politics to resign and give way to younger leadership.

3-day meeting of 526 delegates in nov

• Accepting the challenge of the rebels, who are insisting on a meeting of the 526 delegates of the Akali Dal, the party's working committee and the core committee have called a three-day session of the delegates at Anandpur Sahib in November this year
• The last three-day session of the delegates, who collectively are the most powerful entity in SAD, was held in 1978 though one-day sessions have taken place periodically. The last one-day session was held in 2019

The working committee approved the decisions of Badal to expel nine senior Akali leaders and the decision to form the new core committee. The core committee meeting held late in the evening announced several programmes but most notably it passed a resolution condemning the alleged vendetta politics unleashed by the Bhagwant Mann government on Bikram Singh Majithia. The meeting said the party rallies behind Majithia and that it has never buckled under such pressure tactics.

The resolution to support Majithia comes after months of silence of the party on his fate. Majithia has been facing drug smuggling charges and summoned repeatedly by the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the Punjab Police to investigate the charges. Majithia, in turn, has remained silent on the recent party affairs where a rebel group challenged the leadership of party president Sukhbir Badal, who is also Majithia’s brother-in-law.

Detailing the decision by the SAD working committee and the core committee, party spokesperson Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema said Badal presided over the meeting of the core committee. He said the committee decided that delegates would deliberate on important issues, including injustice perpetrated on Punjab as well as issues of health, education, environment, NRI community and ways and means to strengthen federalism.

The core committee also decided to hold political conferences on August 15 to commemorate the martyrdom of Shaheed Karnail Singh Isru at Isru village in Khanna, on August 19 at Baba Bakala on the occasion of Rakhar Punia and on August 20 at Longowal to commemorate the death anniversary of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal.

He said both committees also ratified all decisions taken by the disciplinary committee of the party on July 30 and August 1 under which some leaders were expelled from the party for indulging in anti-party activities. Both committees also passed a resolution according approval to party president Sukhbir Singh Badal to fill the vacancies created in the working committee due to the death of some members as well as those who had either left the party or had been expelled. The approval was given under provisions 5H and 29 of the party’s constitution.

Meanwhile, SAD rebel Gurpartap Singh Wadala has called a meeting in Amritsar to decide future course of action after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple.