After a disappointing show at the assembly polls this year, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) plans to restructure its young wing, the Youth Akali Dal (YAD) and appoint one president for this wing. Now, to manage the affairs of the YAD, the state is divided into five zones under an in-charge each, a system that the SAD introduced in 2014. Before 2014, the party appointed a single president.
The position is sought after as the YAD president reports directly to the SAD president and works in close coordination with senior party leaders. HT has learnt that hectic lobbying is on for the post.
Those in the race are YAD’s Doaba Zone chief and zila parishad chairman of Hoshiarpur district, Sarabjot Singh Sabi; former officer on special duty to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and SAD’s information and technology (IT) wing chief Parminder Brar and former Student Organisation of India (SOI) president, Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna.
Chief spokesperson of SAD and former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said deliberations were on within the party on the scrapping of zones. “Senior leaders are meeting in two or three days to finalise the issue,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Chief spokesperson of SAD and former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said deliberations were on within the party on the scrapping of zones. “Senior leaders are meeting in two or three days to finalise the issue,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Zonal system has failed to spur performance
Party insiders say the restructuring thought has been prompted by the fact that zones did not spur performance. The idea was to make the organisation more active in smaller zones. “Zones failed to make any impact on performance. Zonal heads tended to restrict their activities to only the constituency from they planned to contest as MLAs,” a senior SAD leader said.
The zones were Doaba, Majha, Malwa-1, Malwa-2 and Malwa-3. Each zone was divided into districts. The thinking at the time was dictated by the presence of former revenue minister Bikram Majithia, who was all-powerful.
When he wanted to relinquish charge of his wing, no immediate replacement was found. He also held the YAD president’s post for a while. Kiranvir Kang, former minister Sharanjeet Dhillon and Amrit Singh Ahliwal have served as YAD chiefs in the past.