Bereft of issues, are Badals losing their charm in Sikh politics?

Chandigarh: The desperate attempts to inject a new lease of life into Shiromani Akali Dal – Badal (SAD-B) by the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal appears to be yielding poor results which were apparent from the scant gathering of party workers during SAD(B) led three protests against the validation of the Haryana Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Act, 2014 by the Supreme Court (SC).  

Call it a lack of political charisma, the emerging rift within the Badal family, or the political vision of Badal junior that not even the ‘staunch’ Akalis were aware of the schedule of the three Panthic protest marches including one led by Sukhbir Badal himself, that arrived Amritsar protesting against the SC’s orders. 

Three Panthic protest marches, one each from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib Anandpur Sahib, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Talwandi Sabo and Gurdwara Manji Sahib Ambala arrived at Akal Takht. Still, the organizers of this marches-both the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and SAD (B) failed to yield the desired momentum and the crowd even Sukhbir Badal, who himself led a protest march beginning from Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, was seen accompanied by a fewer number of Akali supporters. 

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Political pundits opine that it is an apt time for the SAD(B) to introspect its declining graph. From 56 assembly seats in 2012 to 15 seats in 2017, the party has now plummeted to just 3 seats in 2022 which is a big question mark over the political acumen of Sukhbir Singh Badal and his ability to keep his flock together. 

Is SAD(B) bereft of political issues that it has to depend on SGPC to make its political comeback especially after breaking its alliance with BJP and reducing to just 2 seats in Punjab? Sukhbir Badal alleges that along with the Congress, the enemies of the Sikhs, BJP  and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)  are also involved in the conspiracy of attempting to break SGPC.

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“I appeal to the Sikh Panth to mobilize and raise a united voice against the forces that hurt their institutions, traditions, history, traditions, and principles so that they can be prevented from interfering in Sikh affairs", he said. Badal, however, has not given a political line to the party workers so far. 

Political pundits opine that it's high time for the SAD-B to introspect, as it is set to face another expected SGPC election before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Recently, a section of the SAD-B cadres' demand for change in the leadership, indicated that Sukhbir Singh Badal should step down as the party chief. However, SAD general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder reportedly claimed that no one had demanded the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal.