Sukhbir Badal resigns as Shiromani Akali Dal president

New Delhi: Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday resigned from the post of party president.

The announcement was made by SAD leader Daljeet Singh Cheema in a post on X.

The SAD President S Sukhbir Singh Badal submitted his resignation to the working Committee of the party today to pave the way for the election of new President. He thanked all the party leaders & workers for expressing confidence in his leadership and extending wholehearted…

— Dr Daljit S Cheema (@drcheemasad) November 16, 2024

Ealier in August, the Akal Takht had declared Sukhbir Singh Badal 'tankhaiya' -- guilty of religious misconduct.

Soon after the Akal Takht declared the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president 'tankhaiya' for "mistakes" committed by his party and the party's government from 2007 to 2017, Badal said he bowed his head and accepted the order.

Badal had recently appointed senior leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar as the party's working president.

After a meeting of the five Sikh head priests in Amritsar, the 'jathedar' of the Akal Takht Gyani Raghbir Singh asked Badal to appear before the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs within 15 days to seek an apology for the decisions he took as the deputy chief minister and as SAD chief that deeply harmed the image of the 'Panth' and caused damage to Sikh interests.

The members of the Sikh community, who served as ministers in the Akali government from 2007-17, were also directed to appear at the Akal Takht in person to submit their written explanation in 15 days, he said.

The Takht 'jathedar' did not give details of the "mistakes" committed by Badal. But incidents related to the theft of a 'bir (copy)' of the Guru Granth Sahib, putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari had taken place in Faridkot in 2015 when the Shiromani Akali Dal was in power.

Badal had sought "unconditional forgiveness" for "all mistakes" committed when the SAD was in power in Punjab. He had recently submitted his explanation after the 'jathedar' asked him to appear in person before the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, following allegations levelled by the party's rebel leaders who have asked him to step down.

In his letter earlier, Badal had said he was a "humble servant" of the Guru and dedicated to the Guru Granth Sahib and the Akal Takht.