The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ( translation: ''Supreme Army of God'') is a centre-right

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are many parties with the description ''Akali Dal'', the party that is recognized as "Shiromani Akali Dal" by the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

is the one led by

Sukhbir Singh Badal Sukhbir Singh Badal (born 9 July 1962) is an Indian politician and the president of Shiromani Akali Dal, and is currently a member of Parliament from the Firozpur. He served as Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab from 2009 to 2017. He is the son of ...

. The party has a moderate

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

agenda. On 26 September 2020, they left the

NDA NDA may stand for: Military * National Defence Academy (India), a military academy in India * National Defence Act, legislation for organizing and funding Canada's military * National Defense Academy of Japan, a military academy in Japan * Nig ...

over the farm bills.

History

British India

Akali Dal was formed on 14 December 1920 as a task force of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Sikh religious body. The Akali Dal considers itself the principal representative of Sikhs. Sardar Sarmukh Singh Chubbal was the first president of a unified proper Akali Dal, but it became popular under Master Tara Singh. Akali movement influenced 30 new Punjabi newspapers launched between 1920 and 1925. In the provincial election of 1937, the Akali Dal won 10 seats. The Khalsa Nationalists won 11 seats and joined the coalition government headed by the Unionist leader Sikander Hyat Khan. The Akalis sat in opposition and made occasional forays into reaching an understanding with the Muslim League, which never reached fruition. In the provincial election of 1946, the Akali Dal won 22 seats and joined the coalition government headed by the Unionist

Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana KCSI, OBE ( pa, ; 7 August 1900 – 20 January 1975) was an Indian statesman, army officer, and landowner who served as the prime minister of the Punjab Province of British India between 1942 an ...

, along with the Indian National Congress. The Muslim League was unable to capture power, despite having won the largest number of seats, which perhaps suited it fine as it strengthened its Pakistan demand. The Muslim League launched a civil disobedience campaign, bringing down the Tiwana government by March 1947. The rest of the period till Indian independence was filled by Governor's Rule. As with other Sikh organisations, Master Tara Singh and his Akali Dal strongly opposed the partition of India, which he thought would create an environment of possible persecution.

Post Independence India

In the 1950s, the party launched the

Punjabi Suba The Punjabi Suba movement was a long-drawn political agitation, launched by Punjabi speaking people (mostly Sikhs) demanding the creation of a Punjabi Suba, or Punjabi-speaking state, in the post-independence Indian state of East Punjab. Led ...

movement, demanding a state with majority of Punjabi speaking people, out of undivided East Punjab under the leadership of Sant Fateh Singh. In 1966, the present Punjab was formed. Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab in March 1967, but early governments didn't live long due to internal conflicts and power struggles within the party. Later, party strengthened and party governments completed full term.

Modern Factions

Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (born 9 April 1936) is a member of the Rajya Sabha. He is the President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), which is formed by the merger of Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) and Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) led by he and ...

along with other Akali leaders came together at a Gurdwara in Ludhiana on July 7, 2020 to re-establish SAD (D). Dhindsa was chosen as president of the revived political party. He claimed SAD (D) as the true Shiromani Akali Dal and that the one so called was taken over by the Badal family. Prior to this in late 2018, expelled senior members of Shiromani Akali Dal Ranjit Singh Brahmpura,

Rattan Singh Ajnala Rattan Singh Ajnala (born 16 January 1944) was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India and represented the Khadoor Sahib constituency of Punjab. He represented the Tarn Taran constituency of Punjab in the 14th Lok Sabha and is a former membe ...

Sewa Singh Sekhwan Sewa Singh Sekhwan ( Punjabi:ਸੇਵਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੇਖਵਾਂ) (10 April 1950 – 6 October 2021) was an Indian Politician and a member of Aam Aadami Party. He was one of the founding members of Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali). He w ...

, their relatives and others had formed SAD (T). The reasoning of the expelling was due to their accusations of the Badal family steering Shiromani Akali Dal in the wrong path. Ahead of the

2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Punjab on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022. The Aam Aadmi P ...

, both SAD (T) and SAD (D) were dissolved to be merged together into a new political party by the name of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt). This party entered into the

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

to contest the Punjab elections alongside the candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ideology

Shiromani Akali Dal's main goals are the protection of Sikh rights, Punjab's waters, and opposition to the

Sutlej Yamuna link canal Satluj Yamuna Link Canal or SYL as it is popularly known, is an under-construction long canal in India to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers.

1996 Moga Conference

In 1996, at a historic conference in Moga, Shiromani Akali Dal adopted a moderate Punjabi agenda and shifted party headquarters from

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

to Chandigarh.

Party presidents

Following is the list of presidents of the party as given on party website.

Current Members in Houses

Punjab Chief Ministers belonging to Akali Dal

* * * * * *

In general elections

In state elections

Punjab

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Haryana

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Delhi

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. ''Sikh Twareekh''. Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2007. 5 volumes * Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. ''Sikh History''. Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2010–11. 10 volumes * Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. ''Shiromani Akali Dal (1920-2000)''. Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2001. * Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. ''NAVAN MAHAN KOSH (DILGEER KOSH, ਦਿਲਗੀਰ ਕੋਸ਼)''. Sikh University Press, England, 2021.

External links

* {{Authority control Political parties established in 1920 Sikh political parties Regionalist parties in India 1920 establishments in India Organisations based in Chandigarh Right-wing parties Conservative parties in India Organizations that oppose LGBT rights in India Political parties in India