Day after Takht push, SAD leaders to meet jathedar today over party recast

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders will meet Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Wednesday to seek clarification on reorganisation of the party, which is being supervised by a seven-member committee constituted by the Takht on December 2 last year.

Chandigarh : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders will meet Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Wednesday to seek clarification on reorganisation of the party, which is being supervised by a seven-member committee constituted by the Takht on December 2 last year.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders will meet Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Wednesday to seek clarification on reorganisation of the party, which is being supervised by a seven-member committee constituted by the Takht on December 2 last year.

The move comes a day after Giani Raghbir Singh told the SAD to comply with the Sikh clergy’s December 2 decree and accept party president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s resignation, besides working towards reorganising the party structure.

During an interaction on Monday, the jathedar said: “The SAD should not dilly-dally the matter and should comply with the hukamnama of the Sikh clergy at the earliest.”

According to people familiar with the matter, the SAD leadership will decide its next course of action on holding a working committee meeting to take a call on Sukhbir’s resignation after meeting the jathedar.

“We have decided to meet the Akal Takht jathedar tomorrow to seek his clarification on reorganisation of the party by the committee,” said party vice-president Daljit Singh Cheema. The party has already conveyed to the Akal Takht that recasting the party through the seven-member committee might lead to cancellation of its recognition from the Election Commission of India (ECI) as Representation of the People Act, 1951, mandates for running a political party in a secular manner and not as per the directions of a religious body like the Akal Takht.

Cheema said the party had conveyed about accepting the Akal Takht verdict on reorganising the party to the Sikh temporal seat on December 3 and had also provided a legal advice for the jathedar to ponder on. “We will ask the jathedar to take a decision as the tankhah (religious punishment) imposed by the Takht has already been completed,” he added.

People familiar with the development said that the party wants to face the public, particularly the Sikhs, at a rally during annual Maghi Mela at Muktsar on January 14 with a clean slate. Before that, the working committee of the SAD wants to decide on the Sukhbir’s resignation, said a party insider.

On December 2, the Akal Takht had ordered the SAD working committee to accept within three days the resignations of Sukhbir Singh Badal and others, who had been declared tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct) for the mistakes committed during the SAD regime in Punjab, and form a panel to hold elections for the post of SAD president and other office-bearers within six months. It has been over a month, but the working committee has failed to make any decision.

The Akal Takht had also constituted a seven-member committee, led by SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, with Kirpal Singh Badungar, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Manpreet Singh Ayali, Iqbal Singh Jhundan, Santa Singh Umaidpur and Bibi Satwant Kaur as its members, to work towards the party’s reconstitution within six months. Both factions of the party – the Sukhbir camp and the now dissolved Sudhar Leher group of the rebels – had been given representation in the committee.

Rebels to meet in Patiala today

The rebel leaders led by Gurpartap Singh Wadala, who formed the now-dismantled Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar, announced they would hold a meeting in Patiala on Wednesday and seek time from the Akal Takht jathedar on the formation of a separate faction of the party. “Since the SAD leaders are defiant and radicals led by Tarsem Singh, father of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, have announced to form SAD (Anandpur Sahib) on January 14 at Muktsar, we will seek guidance from the jathedar on formation of a separate faction,” said a rebel leader.

In the December 2 edict, the Akal Takht had directed both factions of the SAD to bury the hatchet and forge unity for Panth’s cause.

Former Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, who is part of the rebels’ group, slammed Sukhbir for his remark made during his maiden address after being declared a tankhaiya at Talwadi Sabo on Monday wherein he said he had accepted the edict of the clergy to end the “political blame game” against the Badal family that had been going on for years. “The justification he is giving is shocking. He has accepted mistakes committed during 10 years of the SAD-led government in Punjab and now he is dragging his feet,” said Dhindsa.