A new ‘Akali Dal’ is believed to be in the making and in the waiting. The ‘rebel’ Akali leaders, who revolted against the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal, are understood to be all set to announce the formation of a new party to be named as ‘Akali Dal’.
It is understood that the new party is having the blessings from the centre. Interestingly, the party is likely to be named as the ‘Akali Dal’, without any prefix or suffix, like the ‘Shiromani’ in the beginning and some extra suffix to differentiate it from the existing parties by the same name.
Right now, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal, headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal, is supposed to be the ‘main representative’ ‘panthic’ party, which has control over the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). There are other fringe groups like the Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar, headed by the radical leader Simranjit Singh Mann, Shiromani Akali Dal-1920, headed by Ravi Inder Singh and then there is the recently set up Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De), constituted by the supporters of jailed MP and radical preacher Amritpal Singh.
The new party may likely be named as ‘Akali Dal’ only. Since the party is believed to get the patronage and support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is believed that it may not be difficult for it to get the approval of the Election Commission of India with the same name. Prominent leaders of the party include Manpreet Singh Ayali, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Gurpartap Singh Wadala and others. Former acting Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh is also likely to be part of the new party.
The new party is likely to be announced in the first week of June after the rebel group completes its membership drive, which it claims it has been doing on the orders of Shri Akal Takhat. The idea behind setting up the new party and strengthening it is to ward off the anger against the current party leadership, headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The central BJP leadership is believed to be convinced that it will be difficult for Sukhbir Badal to make himself acceptable to the traditional supporters in Punjab, particularly the Jat Sikh peasantry in the countryside.
The general disillusionment and alienation is believed to be mainly against the Badals and not against the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal. Since he has declined to give up his control over the party, the rebel party leadership, reportedly with the support of the BJP, has decided to adopt an alternate course.
The thinking behind setting up the new Akali Dal is to ‘sideline’ Sukhbir, may be for a while only. Those behind the idea believe that an Akali Dal, with most of the traditional leadership sans Badals will be more acceptable to the traditional supporters. Once the party establishes its roots and gains some strength, most of the traditional Akali leaders currently with Sukhbir Badal are also expected to rally behind the new party in due course of time.
People associated with the move quote the example of the 1990s, when Simranjit Singh Mann had taken complete control of Akali politics. His party’s phenomenal victory in 1989 General Elections in Punjab, winning most of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, had at that time led to the belief that the traditional leadership including that of Parkash Singh Badal, a two-time former Chief Minister, Surjit Singh Barnala, also a former Chief Minister, were consigned to history.
However, within a span of few years, the traditional leadership re-emerged with Parkash Singh Badal again taking control of the party and becoming the Chief Minister for the third time in 1997.
There is a concern among the moderate sections of the Akalis, as also the BJP leadership about the vacuum in the ‘panthic space’ after the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal was almost completely wiped out. In order to prevent that space being grabbed by the radicals like Amritpal Singh, there was a need felt for encouraging a moderate party that will address the panthic concerns.
There is a likelihood of the new party also engaging with the radicals, who have won two parliamentary constituencies of Tarn Taran and Faridkot already, while the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal was restricted to a single constituency.
It remains to be seen how far the idea will be successful. People of Punjab may be feeling alienated and disillusioned with the Badals, but they are not very much fond of the BJP either. If the perception gains ground that the new ‘Akali Dal’ is being patronized by the BJP, it may find difficulty in getting accepted, even if it involves the radicals like Amritpal Singh. But then there are limited choices, lest the space gets occupied by the radicals.
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