India News | SAD Convenes Working Committee Meet on Jan 10 to Decide on Badal'??s Resignation
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday said that it has convened a meeting of its working committee on January 10 to take a call on the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as party chief and also announce the schedule of the membership drive to pave the way for its restructuring.
Chandigarh, Jan 8 (PTI) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday said that it has convened a meeting of its working committee on January 10 to take a call on the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as party chief and also announce the schedule of the membership drive to pave the way for its restructuring.
The decision came hours after a delegation of the SAD met Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh in Amritsar.
Senior party leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said SAD working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar has convened the meeting.
Cheema said besides considering the resignation of Badal, the party would also announce the schedule for the membership drive, besides discussing all important issues related to the state.
The Akal Takht Jathedar on Monday had asked the SAD to implement the edict, announced on December 2 last year, at the earliest, as he was referring to the direction of accepting the resignation of Badal as party chief.
While pronouncing religious punishment for Badal and other leaders for the "mistakes" committed by the SAD and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017 on December 2 last year, the Akal Takht had also directed that SAD's working committee to accept the resignation of Badal as party chief and other leaders.
Badal had undergone the religious punishment but the SAD's working committee was yet to accept his resignation, which he tendered in November last year.
Badal was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, on August 30 last year. He tendered his resignation as the party chief on November 16 last year but the party's working committee did not accept his resignation.
The SAD delegation led by Cheema apprised the Akal Takht jathedar that as according to the party's constitution, it was only the working committee which could decide about the membership drive.
"A decision with regard to the membership drive is to be taken by the party's working committee," said Cheema.
He said the Jathedar agreed to the contention of the delegation.
"The Jathedar told us to act as per the party's constitution and said the party should not suffer. We thank the Jathedar for agreeing to it," Cheema told reporters in Amritsar.
The SAD had earlier apprised the Jathedar that reorganization of the party through the seven-member committee formed by the Akal Takht might lead to losing its recognition from the Election Commission of India as a political party should run in a secular manner and not as per directions of a religious body.
The party had also submitted a legal opinion in this regard to the Jathedar.
In its edict on December 2, the Akal Takht had formed a seven-member committee for starting the membership drive and holding the elections for the post of party president and other office bearers within six months.
The seven-member panel comprised Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, Kirpal Singh Badungar, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, Santa Singh and Bibi Satwant Kaur (representing the Akal Takht) and it was mandated to work towards party's reconstitution.
The committee represented members of the Sukhbir Badal camp as well as of the now-dissolved SAD Sudhar Lehar group of rebel leaders.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)