SAD (B) leaders accuse ex-Jathedar of splitting Akali Dal

Leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) from Phagwara, Ranjit Singh Khurana, in-charge of the urban constituency, and Rajinder Singh Chandi, in-charge of the rural constituency, launched a scathing attack on former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, accusing him of playing a key role in engineering a split within the party.

The two leaders questioned whether the “deal” to divide the Akali Dal had been struck for a price and demanded that details be disclosed to the Sikh community.

Khurana and Chandi alleged that the conspiracy to weaken the Akali Dal was hatched even before the December 2 edict from the Akal Takht Sahib, at the Chandigarh residence of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, where senior leaders including Bibi Jagir Kaur, Manpreet Singh Ayali and Gurpartap Singh Wadala were present. They referred to senior leader Prem Singh Chandumajra’s revelations at the Longowal Barsi, which according to them, confirmed the secret planning of this split.

The Akali leaders further raised pointed questions, challenging Harpreet Singh Nita to explain his personal conduct as well. They asked why, during the engagement of Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha and actress Parineeti Chopra, Nita had taken his children to meet film celebrities, and who was the woman that allegedly accompanied him on foreign trips. They also asked him to clarify the allegations levelled against him by his own relative, his brother-in-law.

Referring to incidents in 2023 at Sultanpur Lodhi, Khurana and Chandi questioned why no action was taken after an Akhand Path was interrupted and gunfire reported near the gurdwara premises. They pressed Nita to spell out what hukamnamas he had issued for the release of Bandi Singhs, and why, in their words, he repeatedly used the Akal Takht Sahib for his own conspiracies rather than the welfare of the Panth.

They also accused him of misusing donations collected from the Sikh diaspora abroad, demanding full disclosure of how much was raised and where it was deposited. Calling Nita “a man of perpetual controversies”, they cited his 2021 participation in the wedding of former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s son — described as against Sikh maryada — as further proof of his disregard for Panthic values.

The leaders lamented that despite the honour and respect accorded to him by the Shiromani Akali Dal and the SGPC, Nita had “betrayed the trust” by siding with forces hostile to Punjab and the Panth. They accused him of bartering away the community’s interests in order to weaken the Akali Dal and strengthen its opponents.

“His conspiracies will never succeed,” Khurana and Chandi declared, adding that both Punjab and the Sikh Panth now see through such games. They warned that very soon, the people will bestow upon Harpreet Singh Nita and his faction the title of “traitors of the Panth”, insisting that no amount of political manoeuvering will erase the damage he has caused.