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Sukhbir Singh Badal resigns as Shiromani Akali Dal president, says party leader Daljit Cheema

Nov 16, 2024 03:14 PM IST

Sukhbir Singh Badal has resigned as the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, said party leader Daljit Cheema, news agency PTI reported.

Sukhbir Singh Badal has resigned as the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, said party leader Daljit Cheema, news agency PTI reported.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.(HT File)
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.(HT File)

In a post on X, Cheema said that Badal submitted his resignation to the working Committee of the party on Saturday "to pave the way for the election of new President".

"He thanked all the party leaders & workers for expressing confidence in his leadership and extending wholehearted support & cooperation throughout the tenure," Cheema added.

Notably, Badal's resignation comes days after he urged the Akal Takht Jathedar to pronounce his punishment in the religious misconduct charges, saying that more than two months have passed since has declared "tankhaiya" (guilty of religious misconduct).

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh declared Badal as 'tankhaiya' for "mistakes" committed by the SAD and its government between 2007-2017.

The religious punishment for Badal is yet to be pronounced by the Jathedar.

In July, SAD had dissolved its core committee after a meeting was held in Chandigarh. Cheema had said that the core committee will be reorganized shortly.

"The Working Committee of the party has authorized the SAD President S Sukhbir Singh Badal to reorganize the party organization. In this regard, the party president discussed in detail with his senior colleagues in a meeting held at Chandigarh today. It was decided to dissolve the Core Committee of the party. It will reorganized shortly. They also discussed four bye-elections," Cheema said.

Effect of Lok Sabha polls' loss

Earlier, some leaders including Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Bibi Jagir, had revolted against party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, demanding for a change in leadership after the party's loss in the Lok Sabha elections, news agency ANI reported.

Some leaders reportedly even held a meeting in Jalandhar, seeking Badal's resignation from the top post. Amid this, some other party leaders continued to show their faith in the SAD chief.

The former president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Bibi Jagir Kaur, said that whenever the leaders tried to discuss anything with Badal, he would not listen to them.

After days, however, the SAD Working Committee asserted their faith in Badal.

The party had posted on X at the time, "Shiromani Akali Dal Working Committee reposes complete faith in the leadership of party president S Sukhbir Singh Badal and urges detractors not to play into the hands of Panth's enemies. The committee asks the president to lead the efforts to expose conspiracies against the party, Panth and Punjab."

Leaders React

Former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said that they were demanding Badal's resignation from the top post as SAD "has weakened under his presidentship".

"Our youths are in jail, farming isn't doing well and our part of Chandigarh is being given to Haryana. Punjab is in a bad state now and the people here want any regional party like Akali Dal to strengthen. Today, after his resignation, a way has opened to integrate the power of Akali Dal," he told ANI.

SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said that his party is a "democratic" one and according to them elections for the president's post are held after every years.

"Our last election was held on 14th December 2019. Next month, we are going to complete 5 years on 14th December. So, it is a democratic process that the President has just resigned," he told ANI.

Cheema added that the working committee will meet with the party head on Nov 18, where it will consider the resignation and also release a detailed program of the election. "Anyone can contest the election, the final decision has to be taken in the house, whoever has the majority is selected as the president," he added.

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