In a fresh political development, several senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders on Tuesday revolted against party supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal by launching the Akali Dal Bachao Lehar in Jalandhar. The list of leaders included Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sikander Singh Maluka, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Sarwan Singh Phillaur amongst others.
It has been reported that after a five-hour meeting in Jalandhar discussing the future roadmap of the party, the leaders wanted Sukhbir to step down as SAD chief. According to Chandumajra, “A personality having a strong political and religious understanding should be given the command of the party.”
Notably, the revolting leaders skipped the meeting of halqa in-charges convened by Sukhbir in Chandigarh. Sukhbir termed the move as another attempt to weaken the strength of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Bye-elections in Punjab
On July 10, the bye-election is set to take place in Jalandhar West assembly while the same for four more seats including Gidderbaha, Chabbewal, Barnala and Dera Baba Nanak is scheduled to take place in the coming months.
Shiromani Akali Dal in Lok Sabha Election
In the Lok Sabha elections 2024, SAD managed to ensure victory in just one seat (Bathinda) out of the 13 seats in Punjab. The seat was retained by Sukhbir Badal’s wife Harsimrat. In a major setback to the party, its candidates lost security deposits on 10 seats, as the party got only secured 13.42% of the vote share, against 27.45% in 2019.
The SAD’s former ally BJP got 18.52% vote share, up from 9.63% in 2019. Since the Lok Sabha results, the SAD is not only facing criticism over the Amritpal issue, but also over demands for reforms within the party.
What did the SAD leaders say?
Highlighting the poor poll performance of the party, several party leaders, including Dhindsa, Bibi Jagir Kaur and Manpreet Singh Ayali, have spoken up since the results.
Earlier this month, Dhindsa said, “It (party’s electoral performance) can’t be worse than this. We need to sit and do a serious thinking as to what needs to be done to save the party’s existence.”
In a bid to restore the party's former condition, Ayali demanded implementation of the Jhundan committee.
