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Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Buoyed by ‘ghar wapasi' of Akali Dal rebels, Sukhbir eyes return to the game
Former Punjab minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, Sikander Singh Maluka, returned to the party fold on Saturday. This marked the return of three Akali Dal rebels to the party just this month, which indicated the SAD's aggressive campaign to strengthen its organisation after suffering a series of setbacks over a long period. On June 5, Sohan Singh Thandal, a former state minister, was inducted back into the SAD following his brief stint with the BJP. On June 10, another former state minister Anil Joshi also had a 'ghar wapasi (homecoming)' as he returned to the Akali Dal fold. Welcoming Maluka into the party, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal immediately assigned him the campaign charge for the June 19 Ludhiana West bypoll. Sukhbir has been claiming that only his party can take on the 'corruption and gangster culture unleashed by the AAP government' and that former SAD leaders were opting for 'ghar wapasi' to bring back 'peace and development' to Punjab. As several rebel veterans rejoin the Akali Dal under Sukhbir's leadership, the SAD hopes that their 'homecoming' would help the party's bid for revival in order to reclaim its lost ground in the state. Maluka, 75, had distanced himself from the SAD in April 2024 after his son Gurpreet Singh Maluka and daughter-in-law Parampal Kaur Maluka, a former IAS officer, joined the BJP. Parampal then contested the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket against the SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Parampal stood fourth and lost her deposit. Though Maluka did not campaign for Parampal at the time, he released a video praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the last day of her campaign. Subsequently, the SAD removed him from the posts of the SAD disciplinary committee head and the Maur constituency in-charge. While Maluka maintained that he was a 'born Akali' and would not join another party, he attended meetings of its rebel faction — the now-dissolved Akali Dal (Sudhar Lehar) — in July last year. This prompted the SAD leadership to take stricter action against Maluka, expelling him along with seven other leaders. However, Maluka stopped participating in the rebel group's activities soon after his expulsion. His return now, just a week before the Ludhiana West bypoll, is being seen as a tactical move by the Akali Dal. The party has fielded advocate Parupkar Singh Ghuman for this bypoll, who will take on the AAP's Sanjeev Arora among other rivals. After facing repeated blows, Sukhbir has been making attempts to get back into the game, actively campaigning now for the Ludhiana West bypoll, which will be a litmus test for his party. Maluka's experience in the organisational affairs could improve the party's chances in the seat. Thandal, long associated with the SAD, joined the BJP in October 2024. He subsequently contested the Chabbewal bypoll but lost, and returned to the SAD earlier this month. Joshi was a key BJP face from the Majha region. He had won from Amritsar North in 2007 and 2012 on the BJP tickets and had served as Cabinet minister from 2012 to 2017. He was expelled from the BJP in 2021 after he raised objections over the party's stand on the three contentious central farm laws. He joined the Akali Dal soon afterwards. He also contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat last year but lost. Joshi left the SAD in November 2024, claiming it was deviating from 'real issues'. After the Akal Takht found him guilty of 'religious misconduct' for his role as the Deputy Chief Minister during the tenure of the Akali Dal-led government from 2007 to 2017, Sukhbir was forced to resign as the SAD president last November. The decision was accepted by the party's Working Committee only in January this year. In April, however, Sukhbir was re-elected as the SAD chief by the party through its organisational polls. Back in the saddle, he has his task cut out now. The party, which was once a strong regional force, has been reeling under various crises. In the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, it could win only three seats out of the state's 117. Since then, Banga MLA Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi joined the AAP, while Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali aligned with a rebel SAD group. This has now left the party with just one MLA: Ganieve Majithia (Majitha). Sukhbir has to rehaul the SAD organisation before the 2027 polls in order to take on the AAP as well as the principal Opposition Congress. He has also continued to face opposition from the party's dissident group, which has raised objections to his election as the SAD chief.
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Another former minister returns to SAD: Maluka calls it his ‘ghar vapsi'
Bathinda: A two-time former minister in the SAD-BJP govt, Sikandar Singh Maluka, has rejoined the Shiromani Akali Dal . Maluka had earlier joined the Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar, which had formed by dissidents displeased with party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. After rejoining the party, Maluka said he would campaign for the party candidate in the Ludhiana West byelection. Maluka's daughter-in-law, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, contested the 2024 parliamentary elections from Bathinda as a BJP nominee against SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Maluka, who was elected the MLA from Rampura Phul in 1997 and 2012, was displeased when his request to be fielded from Maur seat for the 2022 assembly polls was not accepted. Speaking to TOI on Saturday, Maluka said, "I have done ghar vapsi (returned home), and now whatever duty the party assigns, I will discharge it with full devotion, including campaigning for the party candidate in Ludhiana West." Maluka was elevated to the minister's rank in the Parkash Singh Badal govt in 1997, despite being a first-time MLA. He was again made a minister in 2012 in the Badal cabinet. Many leaders, including the now-deceased Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Bibi Jagir Kaur, and Surjit Singh Rakhra, had formed Sudhar Lehar after parting ways with SAD. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Sukhbir, while announcing Maluka's rejoining in a post on X on Saturday, said it gave him "immense pleasure" to welcome the "veteran Akali leader" back to SAD. "Maluka Sahab has significantly contributed to strengthening the party under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal. His return will further strengthen the party, and he will immediately join the party's campaign in Ludhiana West. With the support of the people of Punjab, Akali Dal is growing stronger with each passing day. I urge all Punjabis to come together to strengthen Punjab's only regional party for the peace and development of the state," he said. Earlier, in an indication of SAD regaining some of its lost ground, former ministers Sohan Singh Thandal and Anil Joshi rejoined the party in recent days. Four-time MLA Thandal, who joined BJP after resigning from SAD in Nov 2024, was nominated by the BJP to unsuccessfully contest the byelection from the Chabbewal assembly segment immediately upon his switching sides. Joshi quit BJP and joined SAD after he voiced support for the farmers' protest in 2021. He left SAD in Nov 2024, but joined back recently. Akali Dal also welcomed Preeti Malhotra, the women's wing head of the Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party, earlier this week. Malhotra was expelled by AAP after she revolted against the party and raised issues about the dominance of Delhi-based leaders in the party's Punjab unit. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Rebel Akali leader Sikandar Singh Maluka back in SAD, to campaign in Ludhiana West
In the run-up to the June 19 Ludhiana West assembly byelection, veteran Akali leader and former cabinet minister Sikandar Singh Maluka was re-inducted into the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Chandigarh on Saturday. Welcoming him back into the party fold a year after his unceremonious removal as head of the SAD disciplinary committee, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal described his return as 'a major boost for the party'. 'It gives me immense pleasure to welcome veteran Akali leader Sikandar Singh Maluka back to the Shiromani Akali Dal,' Sukhbir said, acknowledging his contributions to strengthening the party under the leadership of former chief minister and party patriarch late Parkash Singh Badal. 'I am happy to be back in my party,'said Maluka, who is set to campaign for the SAD to win over its traditional base in the high-stakes assembly byelection. In his post on X, Sukhbir urged Punjabis to unite in support of Punjab's 'only regional party' for peace and development in the state. Maluka, who rejoined the party in the presence of SAD secretary general Balwinder Singh Bhundar and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema, was once considered a close aide of the Badals and had been the SAD's Bathinda district president for 28 years. His daughter-in-law, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, a former IAS officer, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Bathinda in June 2024 as the BJP candidate against the SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Maluka's son, Gurpreet Singh, is a former chairman of the Bathinda Zila Parishad. Maluka had claimed that he had tried to stop his son and daughter-in-law from joining the BJP, but in vain. However, back then he had also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which had not gone down well with the Akali Dal leadership. In April last year, he was removed from the post of SAD's Maur assembly constituency in-charge and was replaced by former minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon. On July 30 last year, Maluka was expelled for anti-party activities along with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) ex-president Bibi Jagir Kaur, former SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former ministers Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Surjit Singh Rakhra and former MLAs Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Surinder Singh Thekedar .The action had come a day after the rebel leaders announced a 13-member presidium to strengthen the Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar (Shiromani Akali Dal reform movement). The rebel leaders also had approached the Sikhs' highest temporal seat Akal Takht seeking a pardon for mistakes committed during two terms of the SAD-BJP government from 2007-17. The Sudhar Lehar was dissolved last December on the directions of then Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh.
