Sukhbir Singh Badal has said that he bows his head and accepts the order of the Akal Takht. He also said he would soon appear before the Akal Takht to apologise.
Hours after Akal Takht declared Sukhbir Singh Badal ‘tankhaya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) for the ‘mistakes’ committed during Shiromani Akali Dal’s government between 2007 and 2017, the party said that it accepts the edict and the leader and ministers will appear before the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs soon.
Sukhbir Singh Badal (HT File)
Party’s vice-president Daljit Singh Cheema in a video message posted on social media said that the Akali Dal humbly accepts the Akal Takht edict.
“As directed the ministers and Sukhbir Singh Badal saab will appear before the Akal Takht. The ministers will tender their explanation as directed while Sukhbir saab will also follow the directive,” Cheema said in a post on micro-blogging site X.
In a separate message posted on X, (written in Punjabi), Sukhbir Badal also said that he bows his head and accepts the order of the Akal Takht. Sukhbir also said he would soon appear before the Akal Takht to apologise.
On Thursday Sukhbir had appointed party senior and his confidante Balwinder Singh Bhundar as working president siding himself away from the top post as president.
So far the party has not announced when Sukhbir and party leaders will appear before the Takht for apology and explanation. The Takht has asked the Akali leaders to appear before it within 15 days.
Four former ministers among rebels
Four former ministers, who have been asked to explain, are part of the rebel group now. They include Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Sikandar Singh Maluka and Surjeet Singh Rakhra.
According to Dhindsa, he along with the other three ministers who are opposed to Sukhbir continuing as party chief, were not involved in the decision-making process, during two terms of the SAD-BJP government.
Wadala ask Sukhbir to resign
Convener of Shiromani Akali Dal sudhar lehar (reforms movement) Gurpartap Singh Wadala demanded that Sukhbir should finally resign from the top post now. “Since he has been declared ‘tankhaya’ and SAD’s constitution says that anyone punished by the Takht cannot be head of the party. It is high time that Sukhbir Badal should resign,” Wadala said adding that it is unfortunate that he is ignoring popular Sikh sentiment who doesn’t want to see him as the head of the party.
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