5-member panel to review progress of SAD reorganisation

Amritsar: Having nearly completed the enrolment process, the five-member committee constituted by the Sikh high priests and tasked with the reorganisation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is set to meet on June 10 to review the progress of the ongoing membership drive and discuss future steps for the party's restructuring."We are convening in Chandigarh tomorrow and have instructed all our leaders to bring the enrolment slips, so that we can review the progress of the enrollment process," Gurpartap Singh Wadala, a member of the committee, said on Monday.The enrollment process is nearly complete, but we will keep the door open, he said.On Dec 2, 2024, the Sikh high priests originally constituted a seven-member committee under the chairmanship of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami. The other members of the committee comprised Kripal Singh Badungar, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Manpreet Singh Ayalee, Santa Singh Umaidpuri, and Bibi Satwant Kaur.The Sikh clergy specifically mandated the committee to initiate the enrollment process for the reorganisation of the SAD. However, subsequently, Dhami and Kripal Singh Badungar, former SGPC chief, resigned and distanced themselves from the committee, reducing it to a five-member panel.Claiming that theirs is the original SAD which they are reorganising in the light of the Dec 2 hukamnama (edict), Wadala said he was hopeful that by July, they would appoint delegates, announce their organisational structure, and also the party president. However, he expressed reservations about the party's name due to legal and technical challenges. He indicated that a suffix might need to be appended to the SAD name and downplayed the significance of retaining ‘takri' (weighing balance) as the party symbol."Times have changed. People today are less influenced by party symbols than in the past; they now focus more on the leaders' identities, the party's actions, and its core values. Our Akali Dal will not be dominated by any particular faction in Punjab but will strive to be inclusive and widely accepted. These matters will be addressed in tomorrow's meeting," said Wadala.MSID:: 121727669 413 |