The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a centre-right-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are many parties with the description Akali Dal, the party that is recognised as "Shiromani Akali Dal" by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The party has a moderate Punjabi agenda.[20] On 26 September 2020, they left the NDA over the farm bills.[21]
Akali Dal was formed on 14 December 1920 as a task force of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Sikh religious body. The Akali Dal considers itself the principal representative of Sikhs. Sardar Sarmukh Singh Chubbal was the first president of a unified proper Akali Dal, but it became popular under Master Tara Singh.[22]Akali movement influenced 30 new Punjabi newspapers launched between 1920 and 1925.[23]
In the provincial election of 1937, the Akali Dal won 10 seats. The Khalsa Nationalists won 11 seats and joined the coalition government headed by the Unionist leader Sikander Hyat Khan. The Akalis sat in opposition and made occasional forays into reaching an understanding with the Muslim League, which never reached fruition.[24]
In the provincial election of 1946, the Akali Dal won 22 seats and joined the coalition government headed by the Unionist Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana, along with the Indian National Congress. The Muslim League was unable to capture power, despite having won the largest number of seats, which perhaps suited it fine as it strengthened its Pakistan demand. The Muslim League launched a civil disobedience campaign, bringing down the Tiwana government by March 1947. The rest of the period till Indian independence was filled by Governor's Rule.[25]
In the 1950s, the party launched the Punjabi Suba movement, demanding a state with majority of Punjabi speaking people, out of undivided East Punjab under the leadership of Sant Fateh Singh.[27] In 1966, the present Punjab was formed. Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab in March 1967,[28] but early governments didn't live long due to internal conflicts and power struggles within the party. Later, party strengthened and party governments completed full term.
Ideology
Shiromani Akali Dal's party constitution has important agenda as Protection of Punjab Rights And Punjab's waters and opposition to Sutlej Yamuna link canal is main agenda of party.[29]
1996 Moga Conference
In 1996, at a historic conference in Moga, Shiromani Akali Dal adopted a moderate Punjabi agenda and shifted party headquarters from Amritsar to Chandigarh.[30]
He said that this is the real Akali Dal, and that the other so called Akali Dal has a “(Badal)” behind it. He said that the party will push the Election commission to make the party's symbol the same type of weigher as the Badal's Party, they will also push the BJP to break it's alliance with the Badal's and add his party to the National Democratic Alliance.
Because of this dispute, removing Both Dhindsa and Badal from President Rank's will cause fire between supporters and may make the Akali dispute deeper. So any Article including the Akali Party will have to also include either Badal or Dhindsa as Presidents of the party. Daljit Cheema has called this move un Democratic and fraud and theft, however nobody took that serious... ever since then many people have been joining Dhindsa's faction, he said to the Punjab Democratic Alliance, Navjot Sidhu, Aam Aadmi Party, and all Akali Factions except for Simranjit Mann's to all come together and form a strong third front.
At first everybody thought it was a joke, they said they were all standing with the Badal's when they did the beadbi, but later on, the Lok Insaaf Party admitted that they were having talks. Many Political parties and families have joined with his faction, United Akali Dal merged with the party on July 25, 2020, the Sandhu and Talwandi Families have merged with the party, and so have many more politicians. Now, The Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukat) formed by the Rajya Sabha Member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa after merging his Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) and former Lok Sabha Member Ranjit Singh Brahmpura led Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali). Now, leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukat) are uniting like minded parties on one platform to contest 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections.
Party presidents
Following is the list of presidents of the party as given on party website.
^Kumar, Ashutosh (2004). "Electoral Politics in Punjab: Study of Akali Dal". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (14/15): 1515–1520. ISSN0012-9976. JSTOR4414869.
^Kudaisya, Gyanesh; Yong, Tan Tai (2004). The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN978-1-134-44048-1. No sooner was it made public than the Sikhs launched a virulent campaign against the Lahore Resolution. Pakistan was portrayed as a possible return to an unhappy past when Sikhs were persecuted and Muslims the persecutor. Public speeches by various Sikh political leaders on the subject of Pakistan invariably raised images of atrocities committed by Muslims on Sikhs and of the martyrdom of their gurus and heroes. Reactions to the Lahore Resolution were uniformly negative and Sikh leaders of all political persuasions made it clear that Pakistan would be 'wholeheartedly resisted'. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the party with a substantial following amongst the rural Sikhs, organized several well-attended conferences in Lahore to condemn the Muslim League. Master Tara Singh, leader of the Akali Dal, declared that his party would fight Pakistan 'tooth and nail'. Not be outdone, other Sikh political organizations, rival to the Akali Dal, namely the Central Khalsa Young Men Union and the moderate and loyalist Chief Khalsa Dewan, declared in equally strong language their unequivocal opposition to the Pakistan scheme.
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