SAD banks on micro management to bounce back on Panthic seat

After being relegated to the fourth position in the Tarn Taran Assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) appears to be posing a challenge to ruling AAP in the bypoll, according to political observers.

Once seen as a party in decline, the Akali leaders are relying on a campaign rooted in personal connections, community ties and strategic alliances.

Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s decision to field Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, wife of a dharmi fauji, who had deserted the Army after the Operation Blue Star in 1984, is being viewed as both symbolic and strategic on the Panthic seat.

The alliance with the Azad Group, a local front claiming influence in 40 villages, seems to have helped strengthen the party’s grassroots presence.

“Much of the credit goes to Kanchanpreet Kaur who is managing the campaign on her mother’s behalf. Moreover, the SAD seems to have learnt from its past mistakes and avoided giving political fodder to hardliners,” said a political analyst commenting on the party campaign.

Interestingly, the party has shifted focus from grand rallies to micro-level mobilisation, leveraging personal and family networks that still hold strong sway in rural Punjab.

“I was initially supporting AAP as Harmeet Singh Sandhu had joined it. But my cousin from Malwa came and urged me to back the SAD. With my mother, aunt and others present, I couldn’t say no to the family,” admitted a sarpanch from the Jhabal area. “To stay relevant in Panthic politics, it is more important for the SAD to recover its ground and stay ahead of hardliners and dissidents. So far, it seems that it has gained the lost ground,” said a farmer leader.

Akali leaders detained illegally at behest of SSP, alleges Sukhbir

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Friday met the Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll observer, alleging illegal detention of party leaders at the instance of SSP Ravjot Kaur Grewal.

He also sought Grewal’s transfer, according to a press note.The party had earlier lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against the SSP, accusing her of “misusing the police force” to target party leaders and workers.

The SAD president asserted the SSP as well as SP (Detective) Ripurapan Singh and CIA staff in-charge Prabhjit Singh were misusing their official positions and demanded an impartial probe into their conduct.

SAD candidate Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa said Ward No. 14 councillor Sham Singh, sarpanch Varinder Singh and former sarpanch Balwinder Singh had been “illegally detained” and threatened with registration of false cases if they did not back AAP nominee Harmeet Sandhu.