SAD announces dates for organisational polls

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday said its organisational polls will be held from April 2 onwards. The decision in this regard was taken in a meeting of the party’s parliamentary board under the leadership of working president Balwinder Singh Bhunder.

The move comes amid a row over the party’s membership drive.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has conducted the membership drive by forming its own panel.

However, the Akal Takht-constituted committee had started a membership drive for the SAD on March 18.

“It was decided in today’s meeting that those who have not submitted enrollment slips in party head office, they have been given time till March 31 to complete the process,” said SAD secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema in a statement.

He said no one will be allowed to submit enrollment slips after 5 pm on March 31. A meeting of all the observers of the party will be held in the party’s head office on April 11 in which they will be given guidelines as well as circle level delegate lists, added Cheema. The SAD leader said on the basis of these lists, the elections for district and state delegates will be held on assembly segment basis from April 2 to 6 and all observers will deposit lists of district and state delegates in the party’s head office on April 7.

The parliamentary board meeting was attended by Gulzar Singh Ranike, Janmeja Singh Sekhon and Hira Singh Gabria.

While pronouncing religious punishment for SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders for the “mistakes” committed by the party and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017 on December 2 last year, the Akal Takht had formed a seven-member committee for starting the membership drive and holding the elections for the post of party president and other office bearers within six months.

Two members of the committee — SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami and former SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar — later resigned from the committee.

The Akal Takht-appointed committee comprised SAD MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Santa Singh Umaidpur, Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Satwant Kaur.

The SAD working committee though formed its own panel in January to oversee the membership drive with dissident Akali leaders accusing the party of not complying with the Akal Takht’s December 2 edict pertaining to reorganizing the SAD.