Jagtar Singh, a resident of Halwara village in Ludhiana district, was once a hardcore supporter of the Shiromani Akali Dal. He is now among the many voters in Punjab who are growing increasingly wary of the country’s second-oldest political outfit.

“Our family was hardcore Akali…my mother-in-law participated in many Akali morchas and spent time in jail in protest against the Emergency. But gradually the leaders who made sacrifices vanished from the Akali Dal, and a dynasty became dominant…now these people have lost the place they had in the hearts of the panth and Punjab.” 

The Akali Dal, which emerged from the Gurdwara reform movement in 1920, is today fighting for its existence. In the wake of a series of poll drubbings and rising party rebellions, senior party leaders have demanded the resignation of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. There are signs that a section in the party sees the victory of candidates like radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, and Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, son of Indira Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, in the Lok Sabha polls as a sign of the SAD’s increasing marginalisation in Punjab’s politics.

These rebel leaders include the likes of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Bibi Jagir Kaur, and Suchha Singh Chhotepur, had on July 1 approached the Akal Takht – the largest religious institution of the Sikhs – to apologise for the SAD government’s mistakes, and on the same day, met the family of separatist leader Amritpal Singh. 

Poll losses

Successive defeats since 2017 has brought the party to such a state that in this Lok Sabha election, the Akali Dal got only one seat – the election of Harsimrat Kaur from Bathinda – of the 13 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Punjab. The party has been able to save its deposit on only two seats, Ferozepur and Amritsar, and its vote percentage has shrunk from 18 percent in the 2022 assembly polls to 13.42 percent.

In the 2017 assembly elections, the party won just 15 seats, and in 2022, it was down to three. Even veteran leaders like Prakash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia had to face defeat. The last time Prakash Singh Badal had lost an election was in 1967, with a margin of less than 100 votes.

Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress won seven seats with a vote share of 26.3 percent. The Aam Aadmi Party, which came to power by winning 92 seats with 44 percent votes in the 2022 assembly elections, won only three Lok Sabha seats with a vote share of 26.02 percent. The BJP didn’t win any but increased its vote share from nine to 18 percent.

On what the poll trends say about the SAD, professor Harjeshwar Pal Singh said, "Akali Dal is continuously getting weaker in electoral politics. Ever since the Badal family has taken over this party, it has become a person- and family-centric party. It has abandoned all its principles. Leaders remain associated with such parties only as long as that party is in power. The condition of Akali Dal has become much weaker in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, so its leaders have started to wander here and there.”

“The increase in the vote percentage of BJP for the first time in Punjab and the victory of two candidates with radical Sikh views after many years is a new sign in the politics of Punjab. Communalism on both sides strengthens each other. BJP can scare the Hindu votes by projecting the fear of Khalistan….Making Ravneet Singh Bittu a central minister is also a part of BJP’s politics of polarisation.”

Bittu, who is the grandson of former CM Beant Singh and is seen as a pro-Sikh leader, had joined the BJP from Congress, and was made a union minister of state despite losing the election.

Jagroop Singh Sekhon, a retired professor of political science at the Guru Nanak Dev University, said the SAD leadership has “not been able to keep up with the times”. “There is a lot of difference between the words and actions of leaders. Earlier there was decentralisation of power in Akali Dal. The party president used to be someone else, the chief minister used to be someone else. The president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Jathedar of Akal Takht had their own independent identity and respect. When Prakash Singh Badal became the party president, he took over both the party and the government. The president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Jathedar of Akal Takht also started getting appointed at his behest. During the Akali-BJP rule of 2007-2017, people were so fed up with the government that the Akalis lost the place they had in the hearts of the people.”

Sekhon does not consider the rise of radical Sikh leaders a big threat. “The radical Sikh leaders have nothing to offer to Punjab which is facing a serious economic, social and cultural crisis. They have got two seats only because of the disappointment of the people of Punjab towards all the parties.”

The Lok Sabha election had at least least eight candidates with radical views.

The history of the Akali Dal

Professor Ashutosh Kumar, head of the department of political science at Panjab University, said the Akali Dal is a party that “emerged from a home turf movement like the National Conference in Kashmir, DMK in Tamil Nadu etc. In comparison to the national parties, these parties have built their politics on the issue of regional, cultural and geographical identity as well as the rights of the states. Its initial objective was to liberate the gurdwaras from the mahants who had occupied them at the instigation of the British.”

“During British rule, its objective was to get separate Sikh representation like Hindus and Muslims. Akali Dal opposed the demand for Pakistan. After independence, Akali Dal fought many struggles on the basis of language like ‘Punjabi Suba Movement’, ‘Dharam Yudh Morcha’ and on the issue of water. It raised its voice against the Emergency. After Sant Fateh Singh became the president of Akali Dal, this party of Sikhs was taken over by Jatt Sikhs. As a result, Bhapa Sikhs (Khatri Sikhs, who mostly lived in cities) moved towards Congress. The 80s and 90s were a time of conflict between Akali factions.”

After Prakash Singh Badal came to power, the Akali Dal started presenting itself as a panthic party as well as a ‘Punjabi party’. In 1997, the Akali-BJP alliance won a landslide victory. During their 23-year-long alliance, the Akali Dal lost its image as a movement party and turned into a dynastic party. “This is the most important reason for its crisis today.”

The Akali Dal was formed on December 14, 1920, at Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar – the highest seat among the five biggest takhts of the Sikhs. Takhts are institutions that look into internal issues of the Sikh community at the national and international level, and their activities are conducted by jathedars nominated by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. During religious or political crises, the Akal Takht leads all Sikhs – a role that has been evident during the SAD’s crisis with the rebel faction reaching the Akal Takht, and Sukhbir Badal being summoned.

he idea of ​​Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee and Akali Dal came into existence from the gurdwara reform movement in the 1920s, which was also praised by Mahatma Gandhi.

Punjabi writer and former Punjabi Tribune editor Swarajbir wrote that the SAD’s formation had given a “new shape to the fighting legacy of the Sikh brotherhood. This political party started a peaceful struggle against colonial rule and worked to recreate its legacy. The formation of this party was influenced by the movements of ‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta’ (a movement launched against the British by Bhagat Singh’s uncle Ajit Singh) and Ghadar Party, as well as the wave against the Rowlatt Act in the political and social life of Punjab (during which the tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh took place). Akali Dal came into existence at a time when the institutions, organisations and princely states claiming to represent the Sikhs were standing with the British.”

In 1928, Akali Dal opposed the Simon Commission along with the Congress. In 1929, when Congress passed the resolution of complete independence, Akali Dal supported it. A large number of Akali Dal workers participated in the ‘Independence Day’ celebrated on January 26, 1930. In the same year, the Akali Dal also joined the Civil Disobedience Movement led by the Congress.

Swarajbir wrote in the same article that before independence, “in the elections of 1937 and 1945-46, the Akali Dal emerged as an important political party in Punjab because it was not under any national party like the Congress or the Muslim League. This was a time of great dilemma for the Akali Party because the Muslim League was trying to divide the country on the basis of religion. Ultimately the Akalis decided to support the Congress and stay in India.”

From independence to the 90s

After independence, the Akali Dal struggled for the formation of Punjab which was opposed by the Hindu Mahasabha and Jan Sangh. On November 1, 1966, a new Punjabi state came into existence on the basis of language. And in 1967, a joint allied government was formed under the leadership of Akali Dal and Justice Gurnam Singh became the CM.

Akali Dal also agitated against the Emergency in 1975. 

Senior journalist Satnam Singh Manak said, “At that time, the Giani Zail Singh government of the Congress in Punjab initially didn’t arrest any Akali leader. However, the Akali Dal was fully active in the JP movement. Akali Dal had also called JP to Ludhiana and held a big rally. At that time, Indira Gandhi, while accepting some of the demands of the Akalis, was giving them the message to stay away from the movement against the Emergency. But the leaders of Akali Dal at the time, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Mohan Singh Tur and Prakash Singh Badal, decided to oppose it, looking at the danger it posed to democracy and constitution in the country.”

Akali Dal sounded the bugle of its movement via the Akal Takht. 

However, many questions were raised on its role during the period of militancy in Punjab. At that time many factions of Akali Dal had been formed and there was an internal war for supremacy among them. Prakash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jagdev Singh Talwandi and Harchand Singh Longowal were among the prominent leaders of Akali Dal. 

This was the period that saw the Nirankari clash, rise of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Dharm Yudh Morcha, Operation Blue Star, massacre of Sikhs in Delhi, and the Rajiv Gandhi-Longowal agreement.

Sikh politics took many turns from 1989 to 1995. In 1994, the ‘Amritsar Declaration’ spoke of the right of self-determination to the Sikhs. Captain Amarinder Singh was among those who signed it. On the basis of this declaration, the hardline Akali Dal (Amritsar) came into existence, led by Simranjit Singh Mann. 

But in 1995, Prakash Singh Badal’s hold on Akali politics became stronger as he became the president of the Akali Dal.

Alliance with BJP and Badal’s Akali

In the 1997 assembly elections, the Akali-BJP alliance won 93 out of 117 seats. Badal became the chief minister for the third time. This was the first Akali government that governed for a full five years. Farmers were given free electricity, but some political mistakes were made too. For instance, the promise of investigating fake police encounters made during the elections was shelved by the Akali Dal as soon as it came to power. The issue of water in Punjab, the issue of Punjabi-speaking areas, and the Chandigarh issue were also put in cold storage.

At the same time, Gurcharan Singh Tohra separated from Prakash Singh Badal. In 2002, the Congress formed the government under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh.

In 2007, Badal became the chief minister for the fourth time in the Akali-BJP coalition government. In this 10-year tenure, the Akali-BJP government carried forward the policy of industrialisation, liberalisation and privatisation. Under pressure to expand the economy, the government’s agenda grew distant from agriculture and farming. Reports on flourishing businesses linked to the Badal family and their relatives started coming in every day.

Sukhbir Badal became the president of the Akali Dal in 2008. After this, he became the deputy chief Minister. In 2009, his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal reached the Lok Sabha. In 2014, she was made a cabinet minister in the Modi government. In this way, the Akali Dal became like other dynasty-oriented parties and drifted away from panthic issues. There were reports of alleged irregularities in the free flour-pulses scheme and the Shagun scheme.

Public anger rose, spurred on by the rising problems of drug addiction and migration.  The Dera Sirsa controversy also took place. In 2015, the case of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib also came to light. 

To win the 2014 and 2017 elections, the Akali Dal tried to get relief for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh through the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee – a case that still haunts the Badal family. The controversy was triggered by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh wearing an attire similar to Guru Gobind Singh and claiming to launch his own religion. The Akal Takht announced a boycott of Sirsa’s Dera Sacha Sauda, escalating a conflict with followers of the controversial preacher.

The Akali Dal suffered a crushing defeat in the 2017 assembly elections. Prakash Singh Badal, along with Sukhbir Badal and other party leaders, appeared at the Akal Takht to apologise over the sacrilege issue, but couldn’t win public trust.

When farmers began protesting against the controversial farm laws in Punjab, the SAD initially supported the Modi government and Prakash Singh Badal gave a statement in favour of the laws. When the people of Punjab placed the Akali Dal as well as the BJP in the dock, the Akali Dal broke its ties with the BJP and Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the union cabinet. But none of this worked for the party.

In the 2022 assembly elections, the people of Punjab, disappointed with both the Akalis and the Congress, made the Aam Aadmi Party win with a huge majority.

Bava Singh, an expert on the politics of Punjab, said the Badal family ran their government “like a mafia. Illegal mining, cable mafia, transport syndicate spread their influence, drug addiction became an epidemic. Akali leaders were accused of drug trade. The Akali Dal maintained silence on the attacks on Muslims and Dalits in the Modi government. They also remained silent on the abolition of Article 370.”

Pavel Kussa, editor of the leftist magazine Surkh Leeh, said, “The struggle of the Akali Dal that is remembered is a century old thing. There is a huge gap between that legacy and today’s time. After independence, the feudal class of Punjab enjoyed power in the name of that legacy.”

The rebel faction of Akali Dal and its politics

Factionalism in Akali Dal is not a new phenomenon. There was always a tussle between old Akali leaders Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh. Prakash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala had their own factions. But Prakash Singh Badal had an edge because he had a strong hold on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. 

It will not be smooth sailing for the Badal family with the rebellion that has come amid electoral defeats. Especially because the rebel faction has pointed to its role in the mistakes for which it apologised on behalf of the party.

Among the mistakes the rebel faction mentioned before the Akal Takht was the Dera Sacha Sauda case, the 2015 sacrilege incident and no punishment for the accused despite Sukhbir Badal being the home minister. Sukhbir Singh Badal’s troubles have increased with the main accused in the sacrilege case alleging that Badal and Ram Rahim had met. The rebel faction also mentioned the appointment of Sumedh Saini, an officer with many controversies linked to the militancy period, as the Punjab Police chief and not forming a commission to investigate fake police encounters in the state.

Sukhbir Badal appeared before the Akal Takht on July 24 and presented his version in a sealed envelope. On August 5, the clarification given by him and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee was made public by the Akal Takht. Badal asserted that he is committed to the takht, unconditionally apologises to the Guru Granth Sahib and Guru Panth for whatever he has been accused of, and takes all the blame being the head of the Akali Dal family.

The decision in this case will be taken in the next meeting of the jathedars of the five takhts. 

However, many analysts who have a deep understanding of Sikh politics believe that Sukhbir Badal’s language was not apologetic. 

‘They became rebels when party turned weak’

The rebel group has started ‘Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar’, with Gurpratap Singh Wadala appointed as its convener. 

Immediately after the announcement of this group, the SAD’s disciplinary committee expelled eight rebel leaders, including Gurpratap Singh Wadala, from the party. However, the rebel faction claims they don’t want to act against the party and their only demand is that Badal should quit as party president. 

Bava Singh said that Sukhbir Badal “does not want to give up control over the Akali Dal in any way. After the party’s terrible defeat in the 2022 assembly elections, the party president is running away from implementing the recommendations of the 13-member committee headed by former MLA Iqbal Singh Jhundan. One of the recommendations of the committee was that such leaders, who are acceptable to everyone, should be brought into the leadership of the party. On the other hand, the people of Punjab are also not able to trust the rebel Akali leaders. They became rebels when the party became very weak. Before that they were enjoying power.”

Former minister and Sukhbir Badal’s close aide Daljit Singh Cheema said, “For the first time after 23 years, the Akali Dal contested elections separately from the BJP. The Akali Dal could not create a support base in seats which the BJP used to contest during the alliance. The party is still deliberating on various aspects. We have accepted many recommendations of the Jhundan Committee, some will be accepted gradually.”

On the victory of Amritpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, Cheema said, “Justice has not been served yet in the Operation Blue Star and Delhi Sikh massacre cases. This pain of the Sikhs is expressed in some form or the other. The issue of release of Sikh prisoners who have completed their sentence is also pending.”

Rebel faction leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said the SAD was not in a position to tackle the new panthic wave in Punjab, and in an interview to BBC Punjabi, said the party’s decision to field a candidate against Amritpal Singh was wrong. 

Can extremist leaders fill the void?

Will the space created by the weakening of Shiromani Akali Dal, which is considered relatively liberal within Punjab politics, be filled by leaders with extremist ideology? 

The family of Amritpal, who is in jail, and his supporters didn’t even mention the issue of Khalistan in the Lok Sabha elections. They fought the election on issues like drug abuse, Amritpal’s release and the release of imprisoned Sikhs. After the victory, his mother said that her son does not have any Khalistani ideology, and that he has taken the oath under the Indian Constitution.

After this statement, a tweet from Amritpal’s X account criticised his mother’s statement and said that dreaming of ‘Khalsa Raj’ is not a crime. Amritpal Singh’s father Tarsem Singh told the media that Amritpal, who is from Amritsar, has asked him to prepare for the elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

The brief period during which Amritpal came to Punjab after leaving his transport business in Dubai and became the head of Deep Sidhu’s organisation ‘Waris Punjab De’ has always been under suspicion. 

A faction separated from Amritpal alleges that he has forcibly taken over Deep Sidhu's organisation. Imitating Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Amritpal has earlier given a series of provocative speeches, demanding Khalistan, and said that he has no problem with a Hindu nation. He has made incendiary statements against the Christians of Punjab and has raised the issue of Dalit Sikhs being converted to Christianity.

His image as a Sikh preacher is marred with controversy. When Amritpal surrounded the Ajnala police station in the name of Guru Granth Sahib, he faced massive opposition within the Sikh community. Many Sikh scholars claimed he offered an incorrect interpretation of Gurbani. 

Faridkot Lok Sabha MP Sarabjit Khalsa, on the other hand, said he plans to meet Amritpal Singh to form a new party in future once he is released from jail.

However, Malvinder Singh Mali, who has been an advisor to senior leaders like Prakash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, said Amritpal or Sarabjit Khalsa don’t have a political future. “They have no political vision and organisational capability.”

Punjab’s electoral politics has repeatedly seen the emergence of radical leaders. 

In the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, Simranjit Singh Mann and his colleagues won seven seats, but they became irrelevant later. Mann had won the by-election to Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in 2022 by a very small margin, but it was the result of public anger against the AAP government following the Sidhu Moose Wala murder.

Professor Harjeshwar Pal Singh maintained that it is the SAD which is the centre of panthic politics in Punjab. “Today the space for panthic politics has reduced considerably and it has split into many factions. Radical Sikh groups are also divided into many factions. They have big differences among themselves. In such fragmentation, when elections arrive, the parties which have a traditional organisation and structure take the lead.”

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