can-sukhbir-majithia-ever-fall-apart

In an unexpected turn of events a yet another ‘family’ drama appears to be in the making and waiting, this time, in Punjab among the Badals. Sukhbir Singh Badal’s brother-in-law (wife’s brother) Bikram Singh Majithia has “rebelled” against the official party position over the sacking of two ‘Jathedars’ (Sikh high priests/religious heads). Bikram’s sister Ms Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP from Bathinda, is married to Sukhbir.

 

Earlier, in May 2024, Sukbir’s another brother-in-law (his sister’s husband) Adesh Partap Singh Kairon was expelled from the party for “anti-party” activities. Kairon and Majithia never got along well with each other and the latter was believed to be the reason for Kairon’s disillusionment and eventual exit from the party. Sukhbir, much against the wishes of his parents, always gave prominence and preference to Majithia over Kairon.

 

Sukhbir Badal got a shock and surprise recently when Majithia criticised the sacking of two Jathedars by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The SGPC is controlled by the Shiromani Akali Dal, which in turn is controlled by Sukhbir, although he is no longer its president.

 

Also read: Sikh polity on crossroads

 

Sukhbir’s exit as the SAD president was prompted by the assertion of the Sikh clergy, which comprises five Sikh high priests. Three high priests, Jathedar Akal Takhat Giani Raghbir Singh, Jathedar Kesgarh Sahib, Giani Sultan Singh and Jathedar Damdama Sahib Giani Harpeet Singh were quite vocal in seeking Sukhbir’s resignation/removal as the SAD president.

 

Giani Harpreet Singh was the first to be removed over a month ago followed by the removal of Giani Raghbir Singh and Giani Sultan Singh. There was a lot of criticism of the SGPC’s decision to remove the Jathedars, particularly the Akal Takhat Jathedar, the highest temporal authority among the Sikhs.

 

The decision to remove them was undoubtedly prompted by the SAD. However, some of the SAD leaders were reportedly not in agreement. Bikram Majithia, who till now, was considered to be a closest aide to Sukhbir, surprisingly opposed the decision of removal, along with some other party leaders.

 

During the ongoing crisis within the SAD, Majithia has sided with Sukhbir, but has never been vocal against the rebels. He has been continuously maintaining that all of them (the rebels) were part of the SAD. Even prior to the virtual split, Majithia had maintained a studied silence without taking any sides. As long as he was quiet, he was assumed to be siding with his brother in law Sukhbir, but not any more, after his open rebellion over the sacking of the Jathedars. Majithia could have been subtle in expressing his dissent over the SGPC decision. But he chose to go public.

 

Sukhbir has always preferred Majithia over his another brother-in-law Kairon. He also happens to be the grandson of the former legendary Chief Minister of Punjab, Partap Singh Kairon. Majithia posed a tough political challenge to Kairon in his family fiefdom of Patti in Tarn Taran district. It was a public knowledge that Majithia would work to get Kairon defeated, despite both being in the same party, the SAD. So much so, Kairon was eventually expelled from the SAD in May last year.

 

Both of Sukhbir’s parents, father Parkash Singh Badal and mother Ms Surinder Kaur were well aware of it and were obviously not comfortable about it. Despite that Sukhbir sided with Majithia. This helped him to grow in stature. During the ten year Akali-BJP rule between 2007 and 2017, Majithia was the most powerful person after Sukhbir. And he wielded extensive authority with unbridled power during this period. This was not lost on anyone, particularly the Akali veteran and the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who once snubbed him (Majithia) publicly, taunting him that he had got everything on a platter.

 

Given the power he enjoyed, Majithia built up a strong cadre of youth activists. He also headed the Youth Akali Dal for a long time. When Akali Dal returned to power in 2012 breaking all the precedents, a lot of credit was given to Majithia also for his role in rallying around youth with the party.

 

The Working President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Balwinder Singh Bhunder described Majtihia’s public opposition to sacking of Jathedars as “backstabbing”. Although Sukhbir did not react, as technically he is not in a position to react, because he holds no official position in the party, Bhunder’s statement was seen to have come from him (Sukbir) only.

 

Sukhbir’s wife and Majithia’s sister, Ms Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is the MP from Bathinda, has obviously chosen to remain quiet on the matter. Apparently she hopes that the matter will resolve once the issue cools down.

 

There has never been any power struggle within the Badal-Majithia family. Majithias’ is quite an influential family, which was earlier aligned with the Congress prior to their matrimonial alliance with the Badals. The family had however, later restricted itself to business only and maintained a distance from politics. After Ms Harsimrat got married to Sukhbir, Majithia also got active. Having a strong and powerful political pedigree, jumping into the electoral waters was not very challenging. Within a short span of time, he turned Majithia assembly segment into an Akali stronghold. He and his wife have retained the assembly segment continuously since 2007.

 

Those who know Sukhbir, Harsimrat and Majithia closely, will find it very difficult to accept that Sukhbir and Majithia can fall apart.

 

There is also the likelihood of Majithia’s public “note of dissent” against sacking of Jathedars, as an act of “political posturing” only to address the public sentiment. Majithia is also seen to be a possible successor to Sukhbir to lead the SAD, in case he (Sukhbir) does not manage to return as the SAD president. Majithia in control of SAD will always be preferable to Sukhbir than anyone else taking over.

 

The issue still remains open. The jury is still out on the matter, whether Majithia has actually developed any political differences with his “patron-brother-in-law” or he is just addressing the public sentiments as part of a long-term strategy.