Punjab: Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa 'elected' SAD chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal-led party calls it illegal

Dissident Shiromani Akali Dal leaders on Tuesday attempted a coup of sorts against Sukhbir Singh Badal and declared Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as the new Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief.
Dhindsa was 'elected' the new president of the 'Shiromani Akali Dal' at a gurdwara in Ludhiana, which the party led by Badal described as "illegal and a fraud."
The Dhindsas, both father and son, were very clear that they had not formed a new outfit."It is not a new political outfit but all those SAD leaders ousted by Sukhbir Singh Badal have chosen me as the new president of the SAD by ousting Sukhbir," explained Dhindsa Senior.
"We have got all the leaders who were fed up with the SAD's working style and we want to revive SAD's original ethos and principles for which the party was constituted. We claim that we are the original Shiromani Akali Dal," said his son and Lehra MLA Parminder Singh Dhindsa.
Asked about the procedure followed to oust Sukhbir as the SAD president and SAD's claim that Dhindsa Senior had committed an illegal act, Parminder replied, "We will go into the legal aspect when it arises."
SAD objects to ‘fraud committed by Dhindsa’
However, SAD was very scathing about this move by the Dhindsas, who were expected to launch a new party on Tuesday. Commenting on the Ludhiana meeting, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said the SAD was a 100-year-old party registered with the Election Commission of India. “No one can hold a mohalla-level meeting and make a wild claim about replacing a 100-year-old party fully knowing this is not possible as per the constitution of the party,” Cheema said and added that the SAD was issuing a public warning and it could also take appropriate action against Dhindsa, if needed.
Dhindsa and his son, the former state finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, were expelled from the SAD in February this year for “anti-party” activities. The SAD claimed that the Dhindsas were being backed by the Congress government in Punjab.
Dhindsa Senior told TOI that the ousted Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Didar Singh Nalvi was in Ludhiana to support him on Tuesday like former Union minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia and former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjit Singh GK. “Bir Devinder Singh has also joined me today after resigning from the SAD(Taksali),” he added.
This is not for the first time that Shiromani Akali Dal has seen a split or dispute over its control. The second oldest party of the country has witnessed several splits in almost 100-year-old existence but more than the technicalities — control of election symbol or leader at the time of split — it is recognition by Sikhs in the SGPC, assembly and parliamentary elections that decides the ‘real’ or main Akali Dal. Every time a split took place, the new outfit was inevitably named Shiromani Akali Dal with a suffix — mostly the name of the leader who engineered the split or the senior-most leader among those leaving.
In Sikh political circles, it is generally known that the main Akali Dal is the one that finally controls the SGPC. The SGPC’s current tenure is long over and the elections can be held any time depending on the Union government’s decision, so the results of assembly or SGPC elections, whichever comes earlier, would decide the ‘main’ Akali Dal. Even more than assembly polls, the SGPC elections are considered crucial. Elections to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee would also contribute to strengthening or decimation of SAD (Badal).
With a long history of splits, SAD (Badal) was clear that they had no objection to a new party but its only objection was to the fraud being committed by Dhindsa by taking the nomenclature of the SAD. “It does not behove a person of his stature to engage in such machinations,” Cheema said and added it appeared that Dhindsa had collected a few people at the instance of the Congress party. “Few other free agents like Balwant Singh Ramoowalia and Manjit Singh GK also participated in the function but made it clear that they had their own political outfits and had not dissolved them to join the new outfit,” he added.
Cheema claimed Dhindsa had wronged SAD (Taksali) president Ranjit Singh Brahmpura as he did not wait for Brahmpura to leave hospital and had refused his offer of taking over as Taksali president. Cheema claimed the Congress had guided Dhindsa not to have any links with the Taksalis on the assumption that doing so would drive away the Hindu community.
What is the legal standing?
The decision of a small splinter group of leaders expelled from the SAD to choose a new president without following due procedure would not stand the legal scrutiny, according to constitutional experts. None of the constitutional experts whom TOI contacted were ready to come on record as they had clients from the SAD and other political parties. “Section 29 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, governs the registration of a political party and the Shiromani Akali Dal constituted in 1920 is the original party. This is a splinter group of the expelled SAD leaders headed by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa,” said a senior advocate of the Punjab and Haryana high court. Another senior constitutional expert, who has been handling political cases, said, “There is a dispute which is the real party. This had happened in the Congress in 1969.” “These SAD leaders (Dhindsas) might have been expelled from the SAD but they are claiming that they have chosen a new president of the same SAD, so it would not strictly fall under the anti-defection law. If they say that they have left the party and they have formed a new party, then it would attract the anti-defection law,” the expert added.