Badal Returns as SAD President

On 12 Apr, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) re-elected Sukhbir Singh Badal as its president. The election has, for now, ended the efforts to bring in an effective change in the SAD organization and leadership, the climax of which was Badal being declared guilty of religious misconduct and the historic tankhah (punishment) by the Akal Takht (Eternal Throne, AT) to many SAD leaders including Badal on 2 Dec 2024. The sacking of the Jathedars (leaders) of the three Takhts (thrones) after that, the resignation and retraction by the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, point at how entrenched the Badals are in the Sikh and Akali politics. On 13 Apr, Vaisakhi (harvest festival) and Khalsa Sajna Diwas (inauguration of the Khalsa), Badal addressed his supporters at Takht Damadama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo. Badal insisted SAD is the ‘true inheritor’ of Panjab. He said when his party was in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (1996-2020), they had drawn a line which forbade BJP from interfering in the Sikh religion. Since SAD quit the alliance, BJP has been interfering in Takht Huzur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra and Takht Patna Sahib in Patna, Bihar and alluded to AT holding him guilty and punishments given to his party members was a conspiracy by the BJP. However, he did not explain his involvement in the pardon to Chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, the sacrileges, the shootings at Bargari, the appointment of Sumedh Singh Saini as former police chief and his other lapses. Badal mentioned former SAD president and five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s arrests and achievements, and said being his son and the president of SAD, he will fulfil all of his father’s promises. He vowed again to make Panjab the nation’s top state, reconnect with disillusioned SAD workers, and prioritize development, social welfare, and take strict measures against gangsters and drug smugglers (earlier coverage).