Necessary to float another Akali Dal to counter SAD: Wadala

A member of the Akal Takht panel constituted to conduct a membership drive for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Gurpartap Singh Wadala, on Monday said it was necessary to float a new Akali Dal to counter the Sukhbir Badal-led party.

“Given the existing circumstances and to counter the SAD, it would be necessary to float a new Akali Dal with a suffix on the lines of other Akali factions. A political platform should be there for lakhs of people who showed faith in us,” he said.

“But, it’s my personal viewpoint. It would be officially decided by all panel members unanimously later on,” Wadala added.

His statement came two days after the SAD re-elected Badal as the party chief after a gap of five months.

He had quit as the SAD president in November last year, just weeks before he was awarded a religious punishment by the Akal Takht for “mistakes” committed by the SAD during its decade-long rule from 2007-17 over issues concerning the community.

In the biggest challenge for the SAD in recent times, the Akal Takht through a decree on December 2 had ordered it to accept Badal’s resignation and restructure the organisation by launching a fresh membership drive.

While the party accepted Badal’s resignation, it had rejected a Takht-constituted panel.

The SAD had launched its own membership drive, which was followed by organisational polls on Saturday, where Badal was re-elected as the president.

Now, the fate of the Takht constituted panel hangs in the balance with no clarity on its future as a membership drive is already being carried out by it.

Officiating Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj too has not given a clear-cut reply on the issue. Rather, he had presented a siropa to Badal during the SAD delegates session on April 12, where Badal was re-elected as the party president.

Wadala alleged the SAD’s election process was a scripted and conducted in defiance of the Akal Takht directives.

On Akal Takht’s silence over the membership row, he said, “Giani Gargaj too seems to be in a fix. Neither he wants to annoy the SAD leadership nor afford to overlook the Akal Takht’s December 2 decree.”

Meanwhile, another member of the Takht panel, Manpreet Singh Ayali said their drive will continue till June, following which the temporal seat will take a call on it.

Punjab