Is Shiromani Akali Dal, a party formed almost hundred years ago in 1920 to vouchsafe  the Sikh concerns, is on the verge of extinction ?

 

Many would not like to believe it, but the way events have been unfolding there looks to be a little chance of redemption.

 

There were times when senior leaders fell apart and constituted their own Akali Dal with an identity. Be it Akali Dal (Talwandi), Akali Dal (Barnala), Akali Dal,Longowal) Akali Dal (Badal) or the Sarb Hind Akali Dal of veteran SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

 

But today the contrast is so stark that there is widespread despondency among the Sikhs. 

 

The entire Sikh community in Punjab is feeling headless as much as leaderless. There is a complete confusion and obfuscation among the Sikhs in Punjab, which, certainly is not a healthy sign for Punjab.

 

The glaring fact is that there are no tall leaders in the Akali Dal. The entire onus of carrying the party has been left on the feeble shoulders of Sukhbir Singh Badal who is primarily a corporate politician.

 

The Akali leaders always symbolized sacrifice and frugal living. Beginning from Master Tara Singh down the line it has been an in depth sense of renunciation that has been the guiding principle of the Akalis.

 

Till their last days, be it Tohra or Talwandi or Longowal, they were never talked about for their material fortunes. Incidentally they also left space for other Akalis to grow.

 

But not after Parkash Singh Badal took up the reins in 1996. Thereafter there has been a calculated decimation of tall Akali  leaders. Both Barnala and Tohra vanished from the scene ignominiously.

 

There was no challenge for Badal from any quarter of the Akali Dal because by then even Simranjit Singh Mann had been marginalised in the state politics.

 

After having gone to oblivion Mann's resurgence in 2023  after his surprise victory in the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election could not give any direction to the community.

 

The mantle fell on Sukhbir Badal who failed to measure up to the call of the community.

 

After Parkash Singh Badal ended his political career, before breathing his last,  with a humiliating defeat in his home Assembly constituency, Lambi, the dice was cast. All senior Akali leaders , not to name them, were supposed to fall in line to the dictates of Sukhbir Badal. Obviously there had to be rumblings of discontent which discomforted Sukhbir Badal.

 

The Akali Dal entered an era of darkness. Later events saw the unfolding of the fratricidal war within the Badal family.  While Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon was thrown out of the party without any apparent show-cause notice or something like that, Bikram Majithia, brother-in-law odf Sukhir,  went into a stony silence.

 

The party has encountered a serious existential crisis which is unprecedented in many ways.

 

The challenge, of course, is daunting.