The beleaguered Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab is looking forward to a strong revival and comeback after an impressive membership drive which saw about 33 lakh people becoming the party members. Although there is no foolproof mechanism to verify the credibility of the membership claims by any political party, ground situation suggests that the figures are more or less correct and credible. This is also because the SAD, despite facing so many odds, did not lose its core cadre base, although it did lose significant number of its core supporters during the last decade.
The party had set a target of 25 lakh members. However, after wrapping up the drive, the party claimed that the membership went up to 33 lakhs and the party had to print extra “membership books”. This indeed is good news for senior leader and former party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Although he is no longer the president of the party, yet the cadres and the entire rank and file are looking forward to his leadership only. The party, right now is headed by Balwinder Singh Bhunder, senior leader and acting president of Akali Dal and a close aide of the Badal family.
The SAD took a bold decision to go ahead with its membership drive despite the Akal Takht having constituted a seven-member committee for this purpose. The SAD took a firm stand that it cannot allow any external committee to carry out its membership drive, as it could lead to some legal issues in the context of the party’s registration with the Election Commission of India.
The party leadership took the risk of being seen as ignoring the “Akal Takht” directive by not handing over its membership drive to the seven-member committee, which was headed by SGPC president HS Dhami, who has since resigned and included veterans like former SGPC president Kripal Singh Badungar, Akali MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali and others.
Former Akal Takht acting Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, who was removed as the Jathedar of the Takht Damdama Sahib, has disputed the claims of the SAD about the membership. Giani Harpreet Singh has become the “rallying point” for the forces, which are opposed to the SAD. After his removal as the Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar over alleged “misconduct”, there has been a lot of support and sympathy for him among the ‘panthic’ circles. Giani Harpreet Singh belongs to the SC community among the Sikhs. He is a doctorate and is known for his scholarship, particularly on panthic matters.
He has started a campaign against the SAD, the party which catapulted him to the position of the acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal position anyone can have in the Sikh religion. Now he is positioning himself to be “the representative and the voice” of the “panthic dissent” against the SAD, particularly against Sukhbir Singh Badal.
At one stage of the ongoing crisis, Giani Harpreet Singh considered himself to lead the SAD. An idea had been floated that the SAD, the only representative party of the Sikhs should be headed by some religious scholar and Giani Harpreet Singh saw himself to perfectly fit in that role. Whether he really fancied that idea or not, is not clear, but it did contribute to the differences between him and the SAD getting bitter and his eventual removal as the Jathedar of the Takht Damdama Sahib.
The SAD has been accusing Giani Harpreet Singh of hobnobbing with the Bharatiya Janata Party, its earlier alliance partner. The party claims that Singh is close to the union Home Minister Amit Shah, who met him in Amritsar during his visit to the holy city, over a year ago. Singh has repeatedly been denying these charges. The SAD does not accuse Singh only, but also the group of rebel leaders that they had revolted at the behest of the BJP only.
It is ironic that despite SAD charges against Singh that he is close to the BJP, he is getting support from the same panthic quarters that are considered to be strongly against the saffron party. Singh, while serving as the acting Jathedar of Akal Takht was seen to be mostly taking a position against the BJP, that endeared him to a particular section among the panthic quarters. This section of people does not make any difference between the SAD and the BJP.
The SAD right now appears to be keen on capitalising on the perceived anti-BJP sentiment among certain sections of people in Punjab, although that sentiment is gradually fading away. The BJP appears to be making subtle strides and is likely to move farther across the state. It has been trying to project Giani Harpreet Singh as a “BJP proxy”, while claiming itself to be the “sole representative” of the Sikh community.
The SAD’s gamble, of directly reaching out people for membership, while overlooking multiple challenges, seems to have paid off. Although the party is at its nadir right now, it can hope to bounce back, after it got an impressive response during the membership drive.
However, the party still has a long way to go to redeem itself and occupy the centerstage. The party is still perceived to be surviving along the margins only.
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