Back to Square One

Amid the religious chants of “Jo bole so nihal...”, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) re-elected Sukhbir Singh Badal as its president inside the historic Teja Singh Samundri Hall at the Golden Temple complex on April 12.

- By Anilesh S. Mahajan

The outcome—backed by 524 newly elected delegates, 467 of them from Punjab—was unsurprising to observers of Sikh politics. Yet for many, it was a disappointment.

For, the re-election and the events leading up to it may have further dimmed hopes of a revival for the century-old party, which has seen its influence in Punjab politics erode dramatically. In December 2024, the then jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Raghbir Singh, alongside the heads of four other Sikh seats of authority, had issued a rare hukumnama (edict) demanding Sukhbir’s resignation. Declaring the SAD leadership “incapable” of addressing Sikh issues, they later appointed a seven-member committee of religious scholars to oversee a fresh membership drive and internal elections. In Sikh tradition, a hukumnama carries divine authority, making defiance tantamount to religious disobedience.