SAD rebels to name 11-member panel to steer reform campaign

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) rebel group will name an eleven-member praesidium on Tuesday to work with the convener of ‘Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar’ Gurpartap Singh Wadala.

The rebels are focusing on young leaders with less political baggage. As per persons privy to the development, a few names have been finalised, including former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and former ministers Surjeet Singh Rakhra and Sucha Singh Chhotepur.

“Former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) executive member Kiranjot Kaur, former MLA Harinder Pal Singh Chandumajra, Bhai Manjit Singh, Santa Singh Umaidpur, and former SGPC member Paramjit Kaur Landran are expected to be in the presidium panel,” a rebel leader said pleading anonymity.

The names of other members will be decided when the rebel leaders meet in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

“Almost all names have been finalised and we will hold final discussion at the meeting and make a formal announcement”, Wadala said, adding that details of state-wide programme will also be announced.

The rebel leaders are demanding the resignation of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal after a poor show in the Lok Sabha polls. The rebel voices in SAD grew stronger post the Parliamentary polls in which the party won one seat in Bathinda and lost deposits on 10 seats. Its vote share fell to 13.5% from 18.5% in 2022 state polls in which the party won three seats in the 117-member state assembly.

The senior leaders who have rebelled include party’s patron Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former SGPC member Bibi Jagir Kaur, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sikandar Singh Maluka, Surjeet Singh Rakhra, former MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan and former chairman of state’s staff selection board Tejinder Pal Singh Sandhu.

Last week, Wadala was named as convener as Akali Dal reform campaign. As part of the reforms programme events will be held to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Gurcharan Singh Tohra on September 24 and Harchand Singh Longowal on August 20. Events will be held to mark Mohan Singh Tur’s death anniversary on July 30.

They also plan to hold workshops and organise seminars at Amritsar, Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala and Jalandhar districts in which Sikh intellectuals, writers and thinkers will be involved in discussions on the crisis the Akali Dal is facing and the way out.

On July 1 rebels reached Sikhs’s highest temporal seat – Akal Takht seeking pardon for mistakes committed during SAD-BJP government of 2007-12 and 2012-17.