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CoverStory POLITICS

he Akali Dal was formed way back on 14
December 1920 as a task force of the Shi-
romani Gurudwara Prabandhak Commit-
T tee, as the principal representative of Sikhs.
Surmukh Singh Jhabhal was the first president of
the party which first tasted electoral success in the
provincial election of 1937 when it had won 10 seats.
In the provincial election of 1946, the party bagged
22 seats and joined the coalition government headed
by Unionist Party’s Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana along
with Indian National Congress.
In 1950s, the Akali Dal launched the Punjabi Suba
movement, demanding a state with majority of
Punjabi-speaking people. After the re-organisation
of Punjab in 1966, the first government formed was
by Akali Dal under Gurnam Singh in 1967. In 1970,
Parkash Singh Badal (now patriarch of the party)
was sworn in as chief minister for the first time.
Badal also remained chief minister from 1977-1980,
1997-2002, 2007-2012 and 2012-17. In 1994, the party
opened its doors to members from other faiths. Till
then, it was a party with only Sikhs as members.
Over the years, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh
Badal, as part of his social engineering experiment,
not just let Hindus, Muslims and Christians join the
party, but also gave them tickets to contest the polls.
The party suffered its worst defeat in 2017 Assem-
bly election, by getting just 15 assembly seats. Since
September 2018, the right-wing party has seen a
series of revolts and expulsions.
PARTY FACES SPLIT
As the party leadership was gearing up for grand
year-long celebrations to commemorate 100 years
of its existence, it is facing a vertical split. The party
waded into dissent with the expulsion of a sitting and
a former MP. Earlier another senior Taksali leader
Sewa Singh Sekhwan had been shown the door.
Their grouse is that the leadership provided by
former deputy chief minister and party president,
Sukhbir Badal has broken away the Akali Dal from
its original moorings. To buttress their arguments,
these leaders hold the Senior Badal and his son
responsible for mismanaging the sacrilege inci-
dents in 2015 and for the pardon granted to Dera
Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Congress
had succeeded in turning public opinion against the
Badals on both these issues and won the 2017 elec-
tions hands down. As Sukhbir and his brother-in-law
Bikram Majithia try to hold the house together, it is
obvious that the old rules of power politics in SAD
have passed their shelf life.
Though Sukhbir Badal is credited with being good Sukhbir is being accused of
manager of big shows and pulling crowds at public breaking away the Akali Dal
from its original moorings
meetings, it seems old fashioned style needs change.

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