Sukhbir Singh Badal: The scion after ‘penance’

Sukhbir Singh Badal, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), is at the centre of attention after he survived an assassination bid by a pro-Khalistan sympathiser.

Mr. Badal, who was found to be tankhaiya, or guilty of religious misconduct, was performing penance for his ‘mistakes’ at the Golden Temple, the central place for worship for the Sikhs in Punjab’s Amritsar, on December 4 when a former militant, Narain Singh, opened fire at him. The two-time former Deputy Chief Minister escaped unhurt as the assailant was overpowered by security personnel.

On December 2, Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat, had pronounced religious punishment for Mr. Badal and several other Akali Dal leaders for the “mistakes” committed by the SAD government during 2007 to 2017.

Sukhbir’s rise in politics was a foretold story. He became the youngest ever president of the SAD in 2008, after he took over from his father Parkash Singh Badal, the former Punjab Chief Minister. Born on July 9, 1962 in Punjab’s Faridkot, Sukhbir completed his school education at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, in Himachal Pradesh, and later completed MA (Economics) in Punjab University. He also has an MBA from California State University, Los Angeles. His political career kicked off in the late 1990s. Sukhbir firmed up his grip over the party by mid-2000. He stayed as Deputy Chief Minister from 2009-2017.

He remained a member of the Lok Sabha four times, and served as Union Minister of State for Industry during 1998-99 in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 2001 to 2004.

The Assembly elections in Punjab in 2012 proved a milestone in his political career as he was credited with steering the SAD–BJP alliance to a historic win, beating anti-incumbency sentiments. His agenda surrounding ‘development for all’ and making the SAD a ‘catch all party’ appeared to have paid favourable electoral outcome. However, in 2017, when the SAD-BJP alliance was voted out, the same agenda came under scrutiny, and senior party leaders started pointing fingers at Sukhbir’s leadership competency. After enjoying political dominance in Punjab for close to two decades, his journey started to witness new challenges amid controversies and a waning support.

Election defeat

Towards the end of its rule in the State, the SAD had to face severe criticism over several issues — including the pardon granted to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a blasphemy case and the Kotkapura-Behbal Kalan police firing incidents of 2015, which followed after the sacrilege of ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ at Bargari village. Two persons were killed in the police firing in Behbal Kalan of Faridkot district during protests.

After the SAD’s dismal performance in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections, a sense among several senior (Taksali) leaders was that during the Akali Dal’s 10 years (2007-2017) of rule in Punjab, the party had come under the sway of the “Badal family”. Sukhbir’s attempt to change the basic character of the party, making it a “catch-all” party seeking votes in the name of the region (Punjab) instead of Sikh “panth” had not gone down well with many senior leaders, who felt that the party had deviated from its core ideology of giving voice to Sikh issues.

Sukhbir’s acceptance of his “mistakes” and his plea for forgiveness from the ‘panth’ (the Sikh community) are being seen as a last-ditch effort to revitalise the party. In the recent Lok Sabha election, the SAD won only one seat out of the 13 parliamentary constituencies in the State. The loss was a grim reminder of the trouble that the SAD was facing, following its drubbings in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls.

The immediate challenge before Sukhbir, who has tendered resignation as party president, which is yet to be accepted, would be to win back the faith of the ‘panth’. Many believe it could only be possible through his selfless actions towards the cause of the ‘panth’ and Punjab, not just through apology and ‘penance’.