SAD rebels to form party if Akal Takht edict bypassed

Several leaders who were associated with the now-dissolved Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar on Saturday said they will form a political party after Hola Mohalla in March if the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) working committee failed to abide by the December 2 edict of the Akal Takht.

The leaders made the announcement after a meeting at the residence of former MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s residence in Chandigarh.

The meeting was attended by Gurpartap Wadala, Jagir Kaur, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Parminder Dhindsa, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Surinder Singh Bhullewal Rathan, Satwinder Singh Tohra, Charanjit Singh Brar, among others.

In its directions, the Akal Takht — the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs — had held senior SAD leader Sukhbir Badal, former Akali ministers and its core committee members guilty of religious misconduct during the party’s 10-year rule from 2007-17.

While the SAD working committee was asked to accept Badal’s resignation from the party chief’s post within three days, it was also asked to form a panel to carry out an enrolment drive.

The Sudhar Lehar was launched last year by dissident SAD leaders, seeking Badal’s resignation as the party chief and advocated for reforms within the SAD’s organisational structure.

After the meeting, Wadala said, “We are in no hurry to form an outfit. A final call will be taken after Hola Mohalla. Till then, we have chalked out an elaborate plan to ensure that the Akal Takht’s edict (hukumnama) is followed.”

“Our first step is to hold a couple of meetings ahead of Maghi Mela. We will try to contact all those from the Akali Dal cadre who are unhappy with the main leaders for not following the Akal Takht edict,” he added.

He said they will hold a series of three conventions to take the Sikh intelligentsia along. “A big gathering of the Khalsa Panth will follow. All our events will culminate on Hola Mohalla,” he said.

The leaders also met Ravi Inder Singh of the SAD (1920) this afternoon and said he assured them that he was on board with them on the issues raised by them.

Jagir Kaur said, “We are not sure if our new platform will align with Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal and his supporters, for they too have a similar plan.”