Rebel Akali leaders launch 'Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar'

Chandigarh: Rebel Akali leaders on Monday launched a 'Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar' aimed to "strengthen and uplift" the 103-year-old outfit while asserting that the party's present situation under the current leadership indicates that its "existence was in danger".

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal said there was no space in the party head office for those leaders who launched a programme against the party, asserting the SAD workers would not tolerate such elements.

A section of the senior party leaders last month had revolted against SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, demanding that he should step down from his post following the party's debacle in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in Punjab.

Among the prominent leaders who raised a banner of revolt included former MP Chandumajra, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, former ministers Sikandar Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sarwan Singh Phillaur and Surjit Singh Rakhra, and party leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur.

The rebel Akali leaders on Monday appointed former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala as the platform's convener.

"We are going to start 'Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar'. We request all Punjabis and 'pro-panth' people to support us in this movement," said Wadala while addressing the media here after the meeting.

"We want to uplift and strengthen the Akali Dal. We want to see the party strong. It seems that the existence of the Akali Dal is in danger with the kind of present situation the party is in today," he asserted.

Targeting Badal for bringing "corporate culture" in the SAD, Wadal said people rejected the same and drifted away from the outfit.

Wadala said they will also connect with leaders who were expelled by the Akali Dal in the past but follow the SAD ideology and will involve them in this movement.

Wadala further said they will also observe birth anniversaries of prominent leaders who made huge contributions and made sacrifices for the party.

He took the name of former chief of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) late Gurcharan Singh Tohra whose 100th birth anniversary will be observed in September.

The death anniversary of former president of SAD Harchand Singh Longowal will be observed in August, he said.

Replying to a question, Wadala asserted that the party should have implemented the Jhunda committee report which mainly had recommended change in leadership.

Had it been implemented two years back, the situation of the party would have been different, he said.

The SAD had set up the Iqbal Singh Jhundan-led committee to analyse the reasons for its humiliating defeat in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls.

Wadala said there was a "leadership crisis" in the Akali Dal and there was a vacuum in the Sikh leadership.

"We want to fill it," he said.

Asked whether the rebel leaders will go to the SAD office in Chandigarh for holding any meeting, Wadala said the party office is common for everyone.

"But we will not go there forcefully," he said.

Referring to the rebel leaders, senior Akali party leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said, "Leaders who are allowing themselves to be addressed as rebels of the SAD did not attend the meetings even though an open invitation had been sent to all.

"Now when they have launched an agitation against their own party they are laying claim to hold meetings at the party office here. There is no space for them here," Cheema said.

The SAD leader made it clear that the party had a constitution and an elected president in Sukhbir Singh Badal.

"The president is elected through a democratic process as per laid down norms. The party office is also run as per the guidelines given by the president. You cannot challenge the leadership of the party president and then lay claim to the party office," he said.

Giving details of the meetings held here, Cheema said a meeting was held to galvanise the party workers for enrolling voters for the ensuing SGPC elections.

"The party leaders gave suggestions in this regard and it was decided to make efforts to ensure maximum enrolment of voters in the coming days," he said in a statement.