Ex-Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh elected president of SAD breakaway faction

    Chandigarh/Amritsar, Aug 11 (PTI) Former Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh was unanimously elected as the president of the breakaway faction of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in a meeting of the delegate session held in Amritsar on Monday.
    Apart from this, Satwant Kaur has been elected as chairperson of the 'Panthic' council of the faction.
    The Akal Takht-appointed committee held the delegate session of the breakaway group of the SAD at Gurdwara Burj Akali Phoola Singh in Amritsar. More than 500 delegates attended the meeting for the election.
    The rebel Akali leaders called their faction as the "real" SAD and dubbed the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led outfit as the "bhagora dal", which defied the Akal Takht's directive of reviving the SAD on December 2, 2024.
    When asked about the name of the faction, Giani Harpreet Singh told reporters that it would be the Shiromani Akali Dal.
    Asked whether they would get it registered with the Election Commission, he said, "We will make every possible effort. If any need arises to move any court, then we will see it."
    During the delegate session on Monday, the name of Giani Harpreet Singh was proposed for the post of president, while Satwant Kaur's name was proposed for the post of chairperson of the 'Panthic' council.
    Giani Harpreet Singh, the former jathedar of the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, was part of the Sikh clergy that had pronounced 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) for SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal and other Akali leaders on December 2, 2024.
    In February, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had dismissed the services of Giani Harpreet Singh as the jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib.
    Earlier, Singh had opted out of the race for the post of president. But he was later persuaded to accept the proposal for becoming the president.
    Kaur is the daughter of the former president of the All India Sikh Students Federation, Amrik Singh, who was a close associate of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and was killed in Operation Bluestar in 1984.
    Kaur, who is part of the Akal Takht-appointed committee, is considered a good orator with command over Panthic politics. She hails from the Tarn Taran district.
    Akal Takht-appointed committee member Manpreet Singh Ayali said the five-member committee, which was formed by the Akal Takht for the revival of the SAD, is completing its task in a transparent manner.
    "It was not an easy task. The 'Singh Sahibans' had issued a directive to revive the SAD," he said. "But one faction defied that directive and a president of that faction was elected by conducting a fake membership drive," said MLA Ayali while referring to the Badal-led SAD.
    "It is the duty of every Sikh to follow the 'hukamnama' of the Akal Takht," he asserted.
    Ayali said the committee made an attempt to follow the Akal Takht order in letter and spirit. He claimed the membership drive started by the committee received immense support from the people.
    The Akal Takht-appointed committee, which was given a mandate to supervise the reorganisation of the Shiromani Akali Dal in December last year, comprised MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Santa Singh Umaidpur, former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Satwant Kaur.
    On December 2 last year, the Akal Takht, in its edict, formed a seven-member panel to start a membership drive and hold elections for the post of SAD president and office bearers within six months.
    At that time, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs had pronounced a "punishment" for Badal and others for the "sins" of the party and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.
    Badal was declared 'tankhaiya' after rebel leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, ex-MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, and former minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, appeared before the Akal Takht on July 1, 2024, and sought forgiveness for the "mistakes" during the SAD regime between 2007 and 2017.
    SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami and former SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar later resigned from the Akal Takht-appointed panel.
    But the SAD working committee, in January, formed its own panel and initiated its membership drive, drawing criticism from the rebel leaders for defying the Akal Takht directive.
    On April 12, Badal returned to the helm of the SAD with his unanimous election as president of the party.
    The Akal Takht-appointed committee, however, started a parallel membership drive in March. After completion of the drive and electing delegates, the committee held the delegate session for electing office bearers on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)