Amritsar/Chandigarh, March 29 — The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will hold its organisational elections from April 2 to 6, with district and state delegate polls conducted on an assembly segment basis.
The decision was made during a meeting of the party’s parliamentary board, chaired by working president Balwinder Singh Bhunder. SAD secretary and spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema announced that members who have not yet submitted their enrollment slips to the party headquarters have until March 31, 5 pm, to do so. “No slips will be accepted after the deadline,” Cheema said in a statement.
All party observers will meet at SAD’s head office on April 11 to receive guidelines and circle-level delegate lists. Observers are required to deposit the final district and state delegate lists by April 7.
The meeting was attended by Gulzar Singh Ranike, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, and Hira Singh Gabria.
The Akal Takht, which had formed a seven-member committee to oversee SAD’s membership drive and organisational polls after issuing religious punishment to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders on December 2, had initiated its own membership campaign on March 18. However, SAD launched a separate panel in January to conduct its membership drive, drawing criticism from dissident leaders for allegedly defying the Akal Takht’s directive.
The Akal Takht panel initially included SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami and former SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar, both of whom later resigned. The remaining members are SAD MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Santa Singh Umaidpur, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, and Satwant Kaur.
