In an obvious attempt to revive the sagging fortunes of the Shiromani Akali Dal, its president, Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday asked for atonement for mistakes, committed knowingly or unknowingly, during his party’s regime. He publicly apologized for the incidents of sacrilege towards the end of the government’s tenure and sought forgiveness for not being able to bring the culprits to book.
He also appealed to party workers, who had left the Akali Dal, to come back and work for the Panth, and uphold the ideology and principles, the Akalis have stood for. Sukhbir expressed total repentance over what had happened, while addressing a gathering at the Shaheed Baba Gurbax Singh Jee Gurdwara in the premises of the Akal Takht. Senior leaders, including his wife, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, Bikram Singh Majithia and others were present on the 103rd foundation day of the SAD.
There had been a lot of anger amongst the masses for the incidents in Bargari where pages of the Holy book were found to be torn. In addition, there was another incident where Guru Granth Saheb was stolen from a Gurdwara in Fardikot. The Akalis who were in power in partnership with the BJP, were unable to bring the culprits to book. Sukhbir while seeking atonement during the Ardas, also sought guidance for the future and said that he was extremely sorry for any kind of hurt caused to any Akali worker by either him, his late father, Parkash Singh Badal or any other senior leader of the party.
The Akalis have been on the backfoot ever since. They had lost the 2017 Assembly elections to the Congress in 2017 and were relegated to the third and fourth position in the 2022 polls. Their performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections left much to be desired. The Akalis have been worried since the Parliamentary confrontation of 2024 is a few months away, and if they fail to perform well, their existence in the border state would be threatened further. What is significant is that by seeking atonement for his mistakes, the Akali Dal leader has put Captain Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister in a dilemma.
The Captain succeeded the Akalis and had sworn on the Guttka that he would take action against those responsible for sacrilege in Bargari and other places. However, he was unable to proceed, and in the process, his inaction did not go down too well with the masses. It is to be seen whether Amarinder, now with the BJP, would also like Sukhbir, would seek forgiveness. One of the primary reasons for the Captain to be replaced by the Congress was that a perception had built up in the State, that he and the Akalis, had a secret understanding and this was the sole reason, why he failed to act against them.
After his exit from the Congress, the Captain also lost the elections from Patiala in 2022 and so did the Congress, allowing the Aam Aadmi Party to wrest control of the State. Many political analysts believe that the AAP has been able to infiltrate into the rural areas of the State, which were once the strongholds of the Akalis. Although their popularity has diminished over the past one year or so, yet the AAP continues to be a major force in Punjab and would certainly bag a sizable number of seats in Lok Sabha unless, the Congress and the Akalis put up a big show.
The Akalis have been affected also due to the demise of Parkash Singh Badal and what Sukhbir is seeking to do is to fill in the gaps which were visible in his party in the past few elections. The Akalis were in power for ten years but both in 2007 and 2012, the government was formed because of the support of its coalition partner, the BJP. However, after the farmers agitation, the Akalis and the BJP parted company and this had an impact on both the parties, who are now at number three and four in the State. There have been attempts to bring the two back together, but the Akali cadres are opposed to such a tie-up, making things difficult for Sukhbir and his wife. The BJP too is suffering and it is most unlikely that it would be able to win even a single seat out of the 13 in Punjab, when the elections take place next year.
Many of the Congress leaders who had joined the Saffron Brigade, have returned to the grand old party since then. Even Captain Amarinder Singh is disgruntled at not being given any important position within the BJP, and has so far not responded to feelers he has got from the Congress to come back.
Many in Punjab politics regard him as a spent force, though his status as the front ranking leader, stays intact. Sukhbir is a very astute and perceptive politician and knows that unless the Akalis unite, he would have a doubtful future.
He has patched up with many of his adversaries and even Paramjit Singh Sarna, former president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee, once a staunch critic, is now a political associate. The rise of the AAP has resulted in the dilution of Panthic politics, and the Akali Dal has had to bear this brunt. However, it is to be seen over the next few weeks, whether Sukhbir’s public apology and appeal to the workers would bring in any political dividends.