Beyond the Badals: Will Giani Harpreet Singh's rise redefine Akali Dal's future?

The Akali politics is witnessing a new twist. For the first time in its 104-year history, a leader from the dalit community has been chosen to head a faction of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Giani Harpreet Singh, former acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht and ex-Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib, was unanimously elected president of a rebel faction. The newly elected president has challenged the supremacy of the Akali Dal headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Badal became the president of the Akali Dal after completing his religious punishment awarded by the highest temporal body of Sikhs, the Akal Takht. Giani Harpreet Singh hails from Muktsar, the home turf of the Badal family. His elevation is both symbolic and strategic: it sends a message of inclusion to Punjab’s dalit Sikh population, which forms a substantial share of the state’s electorate, while challenging the family monopoly that has dominated the party for over half a century.

A dalit leading the Akali Dal also sends a signal to the politically dominant Jat Sikh community.

The Akali Dal reacted to Giani Harpreet Singh’s elevation by saying that his political ambitions have now come to the fore, which they claim were also the reason he was instrumental in awarding religious punishment to Sukhbir Singh Badal. They further accused him of siding with the Union government.

In December last year, the Akal Takht declared Sukhbir Singh Badal and other party leaders tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct) for mishandling the 2015 sacrilege incidents. Based on the suggestions of the Akal Takht, a fresh recruitment drive was conducted and Sukhbir was again elected as president. However, this continued to be resented by the rebel leaders, who had been calling for his removal.

Giani Harpreet Singh was earlier seen as close to the Badals, but owing to charges of bias in favour of the family, the chasm between them widened. During the punishment being handed to the Badals, Harpreet Singh, along with the new Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Raghubir Singh, made Badal publicly accept all the mistakes.

The real battle for control over Sikh politics will begin with the elections to the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee), which runs all the gurdwaras in the state and beyond. The Badal-led Akali Dal has mostly held control over the SGPC. Whenever polls are held, the rebel faction too may field its candidates in an attempt to take control, and in the process, gain dominance over Sikh politics and claim to be the “real” Akali Dal. In the past, the Akali Dal has seen many factions, but the Badals managed to establish their control over the state with their moderate politics, which also suited national mainstream parties.

Political observers feel that the Akali Dal is already facing its worst phase, so an electoral challenge may not be insurmountable, as the Badals’ experience could give them an edge. The real churn may come when the rebel Akali Dal announces its political programme, which is expected to adopt a far more hardline approach than the Badal-led Akali Dal. The rebel faction may seek to unite all panthic bodies and bring together a larger confluence of ideas and personalities.

For the Badals, this development is a challenge to their political dominance. The assembly polls are due in 2027, when the rebel faction may also field its candidates, potentially leading to a division of Sikh votes. This could be a blessing in disguise for other contenders in the fray — AAP, Congress, and the BJP. But, there is also another factor: the Akali Dal’s alliance with the BJP has always been viewed through the prism of national security, ensuring stability and peace in the border state — a partnership that worked well in the past. There are renewed calls for the BJP to re-enter an alliance with the Akali Dal before the 2027 assembly polls, as only then might both parties have a realistic chance.

However, the emergence of a new faction may complicate Sikh identity politics in the state.