Sukhbir gets first membership as SAD launches drive

The Shiromani Akali Dal initiated its new membership drive from Muktsar on Monday with senior leader Sukhbir Singh Badal receiving the first membership slip at Badal village. He received the slip from a local leader.

Speaking on the occasion, Sukhbir said “The response on the very first day is amazing. We expect more than 40,000 persons to enlist as members from Lambi constituency alone. I am confident that the party will be able to enlist around 50 lakh members during the one-month drive”.

Earlier on January 10, the party’s working committee accepted Sukhbir’s resignation which he had tendered in November last year and announced to start the membership drive from January 20 to February 20 and hold the election to elect the party president on March 1.

SAD working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar inaugurated the membership drive from the party headquarters here, by handing over membership copies to party leaders Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Suchha Singh Langah. A large number of party leaders and workers also reached the party headquarters to collect the membership copies.

The membership drive started across the state. Thousands of workers filled up the forms after depositing ₹10 each to become a member.

Bhundar said the party’s parliamentary board had also met today to discuss the process and it was decided that the chief election officer, Gulzar Singh Ranike, would monitor the entire process in consultation with observers who had already been appointed.

Party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said all members who enrolled 100 members would be eligible to become a circle delegate and they in turn would elect the circle jathedars (heads). “All those who enrol 2,500 delegates will become district delegates and it would be the latter’s responsibility to elect the district jathedars (head)”. He also announced that each constituency would nominate four delegates who would form the general house and would elect the president of the party.

Meanwhile, dissident party leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala met Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh in Amritsar and stressed that the December 2 edict of the highest temporal seat of Sikhs on SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal should be implemented fully.

“The seven-member committee constituted by the Akal Takht is nowhere in the pictures as the SAD has violated the order,” he added. Wadala had earlier expressed resentment against the SAD leadership for not complying with the December 2 Akal Takht edict.

On December 2 last year, the Akal Takht while pronouncing tankah to Sukhbir and other leaders of the party had constituted a seven-member committee comprising SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, former SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar, Manpreet Singh Ayali, Iqbal Singh Jhundan, Santa Singh Umedpur, Bibi Satwant Kaur and Gurpartap Singh Wadala to oversee the membership drive.

However, other than Wadala and Bibi Satwant Kaur, SAD has included all five members to supervise the membership drive giving them duties of different states and districts.