BJP reconsiders possibility of SAD alliance after Patna Sahib's ‘tankhaiya' tag for Sukhbir Singh Badal
Takht Patna Sahib is the second Sikh authority, after Akal Takht in Aug last year, to declare Sukhbir a tankhaiya. BJP leadership is debating whether it can align with a party whose leader faces such serious religious flak. BJP Punjab spokesperson Sarchand Singh said the BJP-SAD alliance of the 1990s was rooted in a desire to promote Sikh-Hindu communal harmony, not just political power.
He added that with the 1984 attack on the Golden Temple and Sikh genocide after Indira Gandhi's killing, Congress sowed deep distrust between the two communities.
"Under those circumstances, BJP recognised SAD as the legitimate Sikh political voice, and together they attempted to heal Punjab through shared governance," he said.
Sarchand said SAD had lost the moral mandate to represent the panth (Sikh community). "Sukhbir's political base is rapidly collapsing and his image as a panthic leader has been severely hit, especially after being declared tankhaiya by two takhts," he added.
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The BJP spokesperson, who was earlier a spokesperson of Sikhs seminary Damdami Taksal, said the BJP still acknowledged that SAD is historically a representative of the Sikh community, but the Dec 2, 2024 decision by Akal Takht weakened that legitimacy, as it declared the party's present leadership unfit.
Sarchand said there appeared to be no viable possibility of BJP aligning with the SAD led by Sukhbir in near future.
BJP is no longer in the same position as it was during the alliance era of the 1990s. "In the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, BJP secured less than 6% of the vote. However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, this share rose to 18.5%, becoming the third-largest party in the state, while SAD slipped to 13%," Sarchand said.
He added the recent byelection had only worsened SAD's standing, with repeated defeats and forfeiture of security deposits.
"The once-dominant party failed to even field a candidate in the Jalandhar West bypoll and its candidate lost his security deposit in Ludhiana West. Now SAD chief has once again been declared tankhaiya, which has only led to declining moral and political authority of its top leadership," he said.
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The SAD saga
On Dec 2, 2024, Sikh high priests constituted a seven-member committee under the chairmanship of SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami.
The other members of the committee comprised Kripal Singh Badungar, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Manpreet Singh Ayali, Santa Singh Umaidpuri, and Bibi Satwant Kaur. The Sikh clergy specifically mandated the committee to initiate the enrollment process for the reorganisation of SAD.
However, later, Dhami and Badungar, former SGPC president, resigned and distanced themselves from the committee, reducing it to a five-member panel. The rest of the five members claimed that the SAD they are reorganizing is the original one in the light of the Dec 2 edict. According to sources, BJP could consider having an alliance with a SAD faction that has religious sanctity.
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