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(Redirected from Akali Dal) Political party in India For other uses, see Shiromani Akali Dal (disambiguation).

Indian political party
Shiromani Akali Dal
PresidentBalwinder Singh Bhunder
Lok Sabha LeaderHarsimrat Kaur Badal
Founded14 December 1920 (104 years ago) (1920-12-14)
HeadquartersBlock #6, Madhya Marg
Sector 28, Chandigarh
NewspaperAkali Awaaz
Student wingStudent Organisation of India
Youth wingYouth Akali Dal
Women's wingIstri Akali Dal
Labour wingShiromani Akali Dal SC wing
Peasant's wingShiromani Akali Dal BC wing
IdeologyConservatism
Punjabiyat
Punjabi nationalism
Federalism
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing
Colours  Navy Blue & Saffron
ECI StatusState Party
AllianceSAD+BSP (2021-2023)
SAD+INLD (2021-Present) NDA (1998–2020, 2024-present)
Seats in Lok Sabha1 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha0 / 245
Seats in Punjab Legislative Assembly3 / 117
Election symbol
Weighing Balance
Website
www.shiromaniakalidal.com

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: Supreme Eternal Party) is a centre-right Sikh-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 recognized 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. On 26 September 2020, it left the National Democratic Alliance over the farm bills.

History

British India

Further information: Akali movement
Poster released in 1921 by the Secretary Akali Dal, appealing to all Akali factions to unite or face extinction, Amritsar, circa June 1921. Digitized by the Panjab Digital Library.

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. Akali movement influenced 30 new Punjabi newspapers launched between 1920 and 1925.

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.

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.

As with other Sikh organisations, Master Tara Singh and his Akali Dal strongly opposed the partition of India, which he thought would create an environment of possible persecution.

Post Independence India

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. In 1966, the present Punjab was formed. Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab in March 1967, 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.

Modern Factions

Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa along with other Akali leaders came together at a Gurdwara in Ludhiana on 7 July 2020 to re-establish SAD (D). Dhindsa was chosen as president of the revived political party. He claimed SAD (D) as the true Shiromani Akali Dal and that the one so called was taken over by the Badal family.

Prior to this in late 2018, expelled senior members of Shiromani Akali Dal Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Rattan Singh Ajnala, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, their relatives and others had formed SAD (T). The reasoning of the expelling was due to their accusations of the Badal family steering Shiromani Akali Dal in the wrong path.

Ahead of the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, both SAD (T) and SAD (D) were dissolved to be merged together into a new political party by the name of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt). This party entered into the National Democratic Alliance to contest the Punjab elections alongside the candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ideology

Shiromani Akali Dal's main goals are the protection of Sikh rights, Punjab's waters, and opposition to the Sutlej Yamuna link canal.

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.

Party Presidents

Following is the list of presidents of the party as given on the party website.

S. No. Name Portrait Term Start Term End Duration
1 Sarmukh Singh Jhabal -- 17 February 1969 27 March 1970 1 year, 1 month, 10 days
405 days
2 Kharak Singh -- -- --
3 Master Tara Singh -- -- --
4 Gopal Singh Qaumi -- -- --
5 Tara Singh Thethar -- -- --
6 Teja Singh Akarpuri -- -- --
7 Babu Labh Singh -- -- --
8 Udham Singh Nagoke -- -- --
9 Giani Kartar Singh -- -- --
10 Pritam Singh Gojran (Gujjran Sangrur) -- -- --
11 Hukam Singh -- -- --
12 Fateh Singh -- -- --
13 Achar Singh -- -- --
14 Bhupinder Singh -- -- --
15 Mohan Singh Tur -- -- --
16 Jagdev Singh Talwandi -- -- --
17 Harchand Singh Longowal -- 20 August 1985 --
18 Surjit Singh Barnala 27 September 1985 1996 11 years, 9 months, 15 days
4,291 days
19 Parkash Singh Badal 1996 2008 12 years
4,383 days
20 Sukhbir Singh Badal 2008 2024 16 years, 2 months
5,927 days
21 Balwinder Singh Bhunder 2024 Present

Current Members in Houses

House Current Members Leader
Union Parliament
Lok Sabha 1 Harsimrat Kaur Badal
State Legislature
Punjab Legislative Assembly 3 / 117 Manpreet Singh Ayali

List of Union Leaders

No. Portrait Name Term in office Duration Portfolio Prime Minister
1 Parkash Singh Badal 26 March 1977 27 March 1977 1 day Minister of Communications Morarji Desai
28 March 1977 17 June 1977 81 days Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation
2 Surjit Singh Barnala 18 June 1977 28 July 1979 2 years, 40 days
19 March 1998 13 October 1999 1 year, 208 days Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Food and Consumer Affairs
3 Sukhbir Singh Badal 20 March 1998 13 October 1999 1 year, 207 days Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry
4 Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa 22 November 1999 26 November 1999 4 days Minister of Works and Estates
(Merged with Ministry of Urban Development)
7 November 2000 22 May 2004 3 years, 197 days Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
27 May 2000 7 November 2000 164 days Minister of Mines
2 February 2000 7 November 2000 279 days Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
5 Harsimrat Kaur Badal 27 May 2014 30 May 2019 5 years, 3 days Minister of Food Processing Industries Narendra Modi
31 May 2019 18 September 2020 1 year, 110 days

Punjab Chief Ministers Belonging to Akali Dal

Sr. No. Portrait Chief Minister Constituency In Office Duration
From To
1 Justice Gurnam Singh
(1899–1973) 		Qila Raipur 17 February 1969 27 March 1970 1 year, 38 days
2 Surjit Singh Barnala
(1925–2017) 		Barnala 29 September 1985 11 June 1987 1 year, 255 days
3 Parkash Singh Badal
(1927–2023) 		Gidderbaha 27 March 1970 14 June 1971 1 year, 79 days
20 June 1977 17 February 1980 2 years, 242 days
Lambi 12 February 1997 26 February 2002 5 years, 14 days
1 March 2007 16 March 2017 10 years, 15 days

General Elections

General Elections Results
Year General Election Seats Won Change in # of Seats Percentage of Vote Vote Swing
1945 6th Central Legislative Assembly 2 Steady — —
1951 1st Lok Sabha 4 Increase 2 0.99% —
1957 2nd Lok Sabha 0 Decrease 4 — —
1962 3rd Lok Sabha 3 Increase 3 0.72% —
1967 4th Lok Sabha 3 Steady — —
1971 5th Lok Sabha 1 Decrease 2 0.87% —
1977 6th Lok Sabha 9 Increase 8 1.26% —
1980 7th Lok Sabha 1 Decrease 8 0.71% —
1984 8th Lok Sabha 7 Increase 6 17.9% —
1989 9th Lok Sabha 0 Decrease 7 — —
1991 10th Lok Sabha 0 Steady — —
1996 11th Lok Sabha 8 Increase 8 0.76% —
1998 12th Lok Sabha 8 Steady 0.81% —
1999 13th Lok Sabha 2 Decrease 6 25.58% —
2004 14th Lok Sabha 8 Increase 6 34.28% —
2009 15th Lok Sabha 4 Decrease 4 0.96% —
2014 16th Lok Sabha 4 Steady 20.30% Decrease 13.55%
2019 17th Lok Sabha 2 Decrease 2 27.45% Increase 13.9%
2024 18th Lok Sabha 1 Decrease 1 13.42% Decrease 14.03%

In state elections

Punjab Provincial Assembly Elections

Legislative Assembly elections
Election Year Leader seats contested seats won +/- in seats Overall votes % of overall votes +/- in vote share Sitting side
1937 Master Tara Singh 81 11 / 175 Steady 1,788,856 5.58 Steady Others
1946 Master Tara Singh 81 20 / 175 Increase 9 3,550,212 10.94 Increase 5.36 Others

Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections

Legislative Assembly elections
Election Year Leader seats contested seats won +/- in seats Overall votes % of overall votes +/- in vote share Sitting side
1952 Gopal Singh Khalsa 48 13 / 126 Increase 13 620,455 12.44 Increase 12.44 Opposition
1957 Contested with Congress and 28 Akali leaders won.
1962 Justice Gurnam Singh 46 16 / 154 Increase 16 799,925 11.87 Increase 11.87 Opposition
1967 Sant Fateh Singh (SFSG) 59 24 / 104 Increase 24 871,742 20.48 Increase 20.48 Opposition
Master Tara Singh (MTSG) 61 2 / 104 Increase 2 178,746 4.20 Increase 4.20
1969 Justice Gurnam Singh 65 43 / 104 Increase 43 1,381,916 29.36 Increase 29.36 Government
1972 Jaswinder Singh 72 24 / 104 Decrease 19 1,344,437 27.64 Decrease 1.72 Opposition
1977 Parkash Singh Badal 70 58 / 117 Increase 34 1,776,602 31.41 Increase 3.8 Government
1980 Harchand Singh Longowal 73 37 / 117 Decrease 21 1,683,266 26.92 Decrease 4.49 Opposition
1985 Surjit Singh Barnala 100 73 / 117 Increase 23 2,630,270 38.01 Increase 11.09 Government
1992 Boycotted the elections
1997 Parkash Singh Badal 92 75 / 117 Increase 75 3,873,099 37.64 Increase 37.64 Government
2002 41 / 117 Decrease 34 3,196,924 31.08 Decrease 6.56 Opposition
2007 93 48 / 117 Increase 7 4,689,018 37.09 Increase 6.01 Government
2012 94 56 / 117 Increase 8 4,828,612 34.73 Decrease 2.36 Government
2017 15 / 117 Decrease 41 3,898,161 25.2 Decrease 9.4 Others
2022 Sukhbir Singh Badal 97 3 / 117 Decrease 12 2,861,286 18.38 Decrease 6.86 Others

Haryana Legislative Assembly Elections

Legislative Assembly elections
Election Year Leader seats contested seats won +/- in seats Overall votes % of overall votes +/- in vote share Sitting side
2009 Charanjeet Kaur Mallour 2 1 / 90 Steady 9,490,092 0.98 Steady Opposition
2014 Balkaur Singh 5 1 / 90 Steady 12,426,968 0.6 Decrease 0.38 Coalition
2019 Rajinder Singh Desujodha 3 0 / 90 Decrease 1 12,520,177 0.38 Decrease 0.22 Others

Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections

Legislative Assembly elections
Election Year Leader seats contested seats won +/- in seats Overall votes % of overall votes +/- in vote share Sitting side
2013 Manjinder Singh Sirsa 4 1 / 70 Steady 7,699,800 1 Steady Government
2015 Manjinder Singh Sirsa 1 0 / 90 Decrease 1 8,978,269 0.5 Decrease 0.5 Opposition

See also

References

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  2. Pioneer, The. "Istri Akali Dal protests in front of CM residence". The Pioneer. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  3. "SAD's SC wing feels 'powerless' in Pathankot". The Indian Express. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. Jerath, Arati R (14 January 2017). "SAD activists seek BC candidate". The Tribune. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  5. Grover, Verinder (1996). Encyclopaedia of India and Her States: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, Volume 4. Deep & Deep. p. 578.
  6. "Akali Dal Slams Amritpal Singh Crackdown, Offers Help To Those Arrested". NDTV. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  7. Narang, Amarjit Singh (1 March 2014). "The Shiromani Akali Dal". The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199699308.013.020. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  8. Kumar, Ashutosh (2004). "Electoral Politics in Punjab: Study of Akali Dal". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (14/15): 1515–1520. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4414869.
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  13. "Parkash Singh Badal calls for 'genuinely federal structure' for country". The Economic Times. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
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  15. Roy, Meenu (1996). India Votes, Elections 1996: A Critical Analysis. Deep & Deep Publications. ISBN 978-81-7100-900-8.
  16. Chum, B. K. (1 December 2013). Behind Closed Doors: Politics of Punjab, Haryana and the Emergency. Hay House, Inc. ISBN 978-93-81398-62-3.
  17. Singh, Mahendra Prasad (1981). Split in a Predominant Party: The Indian National Congress in 1969. Abhinav publications. p. 69. ISBN 9788170171409. Retrieved 18 July 2024. The Bharatiya Kranti Dal(BKD) and the Akali Dal, two other right-wing parties...
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  21. "Glorious past, but Shiromani Akali Dal faces serious crisis of identity, popularity & credibility". The Times of India. 14 December 2020. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  22. D'Souza, Shanthie Mariet (9 April 2014). "Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)". Britannica. Retrieved 14 July 2023. The precursor to the present-day SAD was an organization established in December 1920 to help guide the quasi-militant Akali movement of the early 1920s, in which Sikhs demanded and (through the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925) won from the ruling British authorities in India control over the gurdwaras (Sikh houses of worship). The present-day SAD, which has claimed to be the oldest regional political party in India, has also controlled Sikh religious institutions such as the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and, more recently, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
  23. VINAYAK, RAMESH (31 March 1996). "Akali Dal led by Parkash Singh Badal break from the past to forge a moderate agenda". India Today. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  24. "Punjab's Akali Dal Quits BJP-Led Alliance Over Controversial Farm Bills". NDTV.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
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  26. Bharti, Vishav. "How it became Punjabi journalism's finest hour". The Tribune. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
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  29. Kudaisya, Gyanesh; Yong, Tan Tai (2004). The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-134-44048-1. 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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  35. ""Panth in danger" – Badal's politics shifts back from Chandigarh to Amritsar". Times of India Blog. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
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Bibliography

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