Decode Politics: Why Akal Takht Jathedar’s role is under scrutiny amid open war between SAD rebels, Sukhbir Badal

A day after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh summoned him for his explanation within 15 days on allegations levelled by some senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) rebels that “he has not represented the sentiments of the Panth”, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said Tuesday that he will appear before the Akal Takht as a devout Sikh.

SAD members dominate the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which is the appointing authority of the Jathedar at Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs. SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, handpicked by Sukhbir for the job, campaigned for the Akali Dal in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Punjab in which the party faced its worst defeat.

In the multi-cornered polls, the SAD, contesting separately from its erstwhile ally BJP, suffered a rout as it managed to win just one seat – Bathinda, Badals’ home turf, retained by Harsimrat Kaur, wife of Sukhbir – out of 13 as against the Congress’s seven and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s three, with the remaining two seats won by Independent candidates – radical preacher Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa (son of Indira Gandhi assassin Beant Singh) from Faridkot.

The complex equations between the SAD, SGPC and Akal Takht seem to be at the centre of the crisis facing the Akali politics in the state.

Days after the Lok Sabha poll outcome, several rebel SAD leaders – including ex-SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, ex-minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, ex-minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Sucha Singh Chhotepur – appeared before the Akal Takht in Amritsar on July 1 and sought forgiveness for “mistakes” that led to “people’s disillusionment with the party when