Sukhbir Singh Badal was elected unanimously by SAD delegates, four months after he was forced to resign as party president by Akal Takht over ‘religious misconduct’.
Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is re-elected as the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Around 500 delegates of the Akali Dal, who were elected by the party members during its organisational polls, unanimously elected Sukhbir Badal as the party head on Saturday. Badal resigned from the post four months ago. The 68-year-old was first elected the party president in 2008.
SAD’s election officer, Gulzar Singh Ranike, declared Badal’s name as the new president at a session held at the Teja Singh Samundari hall in the Sri Darbar Sahib complex in Amritsar.
Sukhbir Singh Badal showed gratitude
On being elected as the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Sukhbir Singh Badal says, “… I thank all the Punjabis, Khalsa Panth and all the members of the SAD who gave me an opportunity to serve. I promise to the people of Punjab that we will make Punjab no.1 again… Our Gurus have taught us to respect all religions… I want to assure people of all religions that Punjab is your state…”
Posting on X, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) wrote, “Congratulations to Punjab’s development man, Sukhbir Singh Badal, on becoming the president of Shiromani Akali Dal. May Sukhbir Singh Badal firmly guard the rights of the Panth and Punjab and make Punjab prosperous again.”
Badal’s re-election comes barely four months after he quit after he was declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for “mistakes” committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government from 2007 to 2017.
Party’s working president proposed Badal’s name
His name was proposed by the party’s working president, Balwinder Singh Bhundar, while party leaders Paramjit Singh Sarna and Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal supported it. Several senior party leaders, including Badal’s wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Daljit Singh Cheema, were present at the session.
Badal’s resignation was accepted in January 2025
Badal subsequently resigned as the SAD president last December, which was accepted by the party’s Working Committee only in January this year. On August 30, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh declared Badal ‘tankhaiya’ for “mistakes” committed by the SAD and its government from 2007 to 2017.
(PTI inputs)
