3 Akali Dals vie to grab Panthic space

Maghi Mela at Muktsar on Tuesday witnessed rallies by three different Akali Dals, with each of them claiming to be the true saviour of the Sikh Panth.

The occasion had been used in the past by both moderate and hardliner Akalis to show their strength.

The Shiromani Akali Dal’s attempt to resurrect itself after a string of electoral setbacks since the dislodging of its government in 2017 and the launch of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal’s party added hype to the occasion.

The launch of the Amritpal's outfit has stirred the Sikh politics. Earlier, his backers had picked the Shiromani Akali Dal (Anandpur Sahib) as the name of their party.

But on Tuesday, they announced a different name. It’s announced name — Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) — seems to bear the jailed MP’s stamp.

Waris Punjab De — an organisation that was earlier led by the late actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu — is currently being headed by the Khadoor Sahib MP.

The organisation had allegedly received funds from abroad in the past, which was questioned by Indian security agencies.

Meanwhile, the over a century-old Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) tried to make a new beginning through a political rally on Maghi Mela — the first big occasion addressed by its former president Sukhbir Singh Badal after a punishing Akal Takht decree forced the party to accept his resignation.

However, the party continued to rally behind Sukhbir, who was among several SAD leaders awarded a religious punishment for the “mistakes” committed by them during their party’s regime from 2017-17.

Party leaders, impressed by a large footfall at the rally, vied with each other in praising Sukhbir and even projected him as the future Chief Minister of Punjab.

Earlier, the Akal Takht had asked the party to look for new leaders after undertaking a six-month-long membership drive for the restructuring of SAD.

The temporal seat had also constituted a seven-member panel, headed by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami.

However, though the party accepted Sukhbir’s resignation with much delay and reluctance, it rejected the Takht-formed committee. Instead, SAD formed its own 13-member panel to carry out a month-long membership drive from January 20.

This came despite Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh pushing the party to accept the decree pronounced by five Sikh high priests on December 2 “in totality”.

The SAD (Amritsar) led by Mann, a well -known Khalistan ideologue, also held a rally. The party banners continued to claim that it was fighting for a separate homeland for Sikhs.

It remains to be seen how the party reacts to the emergence of a new Sikh hardliner group under Amritpal.