Akal Takht Bars Badal from By-Poll Campaign, SAD Boycotts Polls

On 23 Oct, The Akal Takht (Eternal Throne; AT) Jathedar (leader) Giani Raghbir Singh halted Sukhbir Singh Badal’s plans to lead the SAD campaign in the 13 Nov assembly By-Polls in Dera Baba Nanak, Barnala, Chabbewal, and Gidderbaha. The Jathedar stated that a tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct) remains so until tankhah (religious punishment) is awarded by the Panj Singh Sahiban (five loved ones), who are expected to meet after Bandi Chhor Diwas (Free Prisoners Day) on 1 Nov. The SAD announced on 24 Oct that it will not contest the 13 Nov By-Polls in Panjab. This is the first time the SAD will boycott elections in 32 years, with the SAD boycotting the elections in 1992. At the same time, Simranjit Singh Mann, president of SAD (Amritsar), announced his grandson, Govind Singh Sandhu, as the party’s candidate for the Barnala By-Poll. The INC also announced two of its candidates on 24 Oct fielding Amrita Kaur Warring, wife of state unit chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, from Gidderbaha, and Jatinder Kaur, wife of Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, from Dera Baba Nanak. In Wayanad, Kerala, Seetha Kaur, a Tamil-speaking Khalsa woman from Bahujan Dravida Party, an outfit of Tamil Sikhs inspired by social reformers Periyar and Kanshi Ram, is up against INC leader Priyanka Gandhi in the MP election (SDW Vol 2 Issue 15, Story 2). Meanwhile, Raja Warring recently came under fire for comments made about the AT being ‘under control of the Badals’. AT Jathedar Raghbir Singh strongly condemned his statements. Warring immediately apologized, ‘bowed his head’ to the AT, and stated that he cannot speak wrongly about the AT and the Jathedar even out of forgetfulness.