The influence of Shiromani Akali Dal in the politics of Punjab has continuously decreased in the last decade. The party which was in power in Punjab till 2017, now has only 3 MLAs and 1 MP. In the last 10 years, the party has gone from the peak of power in Punjab to its worst performance ever. Many leaders of the party rebelled and separated and now the party is trying to re-establish itself in the politics of Punjab.
Under the chairmanship of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, the party is organizing 40 rallies across Punjab before Baisakhi, of which some rallies have already taken place. The party is trying to convince the old leaders and once again win over the voters who have lost faith in it. The activism of Shiromani Akali Dal may cause a shock to other political parties in Punjab.
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Government was formed for the second consecutive time in 2012
Akali Dal formed the government in Punjab in 2007 and after this the party again returned with full majority in the 2012 assembly elections. While Congress was hopeful of returning to power in 2012, Akali Dal was fully confident that the people of Punjab would give it another chance. Rejecting all the speculations, he made a comeback with a bang. Out of the total 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly, 56 seats went to the account of Akali Dal while its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party got 12 seats. Breaking the tradition of last 46 years, Akali Dal formed the government continuously.
Poor performance after 2017
Shiromani Akali Dal, the party which single-handedly won majority in 2012, had to face a major defeat in 2017. Shiromani Akali Dal won only 15 seats out of 177. This was the worst performance of the party so far. After this, the graph of Akali Dal continued to fall. With the return of Congress in 2017, Aam Aadmi Party emerged and got the status of the main opposition party.
After this, due to the farmer laws in 2020, it took time for the Akali Dal to take a stand and in the end it had to say goodbye to its oldest ally BJP. After this, in the 2022 assembly elections, Punjab was swept away by the wave of Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal was reduced to only 3 seats. This was the most shameful defeat ever for the Akali Dal. Big party leader and 11-time MLA Prakash Singh Badal, party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal were also not able to save their seats. Badal family members and all their close relatives could not even save their seats in the elections. Akali Dal got 18.38 percent votes, which was about 7 percent less than the 2017 elections.
preparing to return
Akali Dal is now preparing to make a comeback in Punjab. Prakash Singh Badal is no more and the entire command is in the hands of his son Sukhbir Badal. After 2017, many traditional leaders separated from the party. After the defeat of 2022 and 2024, many party leaders said goodbye to the party. Sukhbir Badal has also been sentenced in religious matters. Now the party has moved ahead from all these struggles and has started preparing for 2027. The party has also made election promises for 2027. The party has got further support with Bikram Singh Majithia getting bail. The party is trying to get the old leaders back into the party and is now trying to break the BJP leaders as well.
Will Akali Dal return to sectarian politics?
The last decade in the journey of Akali Dal, which started with the Gurudwara Movement, has been very bad. The party was also surrounded by questions on religious matters. However, now the party is moving back towards the politics of the 90s. The sectarian politicians and parties that have emerged in the last decade will be troubled by the growing strength of the Akali Dal. Due to the weakening of Akali Dal, the emergence of many Panthak leaders was seen. The results of two seats of Punjab in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were discussed in the entire country. Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh won the election from Khadur Sahib seat. He is still in jail under NSA and from jail itself he contested the elections and won by a huge margin of 1.97 lakh votes. Apart from this, Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, son of former PM Indira Gandhi’s murderer Beant Singh, won the elections from Faridkot by a huge margin of 70 thousand votes. Now that Akali Dal has again started raising Panthic issues, it is certain that these leaders as well as other Sikh leaders and parties doing Panthic politics will be in for a shock. There is even talk of some leaders joining Akali Dal.
How much loss will BJP suffer?
Political experts believe that the Bharatiya Janata Party benefited from the rise of leaders like Amritpal and Sarabjit Singh Khalsa. Jagroop Singh Sekhon, retired professor of political science at Guru Nanak Dev University, while talking to a media organization, had said that extremist Sikh leaders have nothing to give to Punjab but they emerge when people are angry with all the parties.
Professor Harjeshwar Pal Singh Pal keeps an eye on the sectarian politics of Punjab. He says that BJP has benefited from the emergence of radical Sikh leaders in Punjab and their vote percentage has increased. The rise of leaders with extremist Sikh ideas led to the mobilization of Hindu voters with the BJP. Professor Harjeshwar says that BJP can scare Hindu votes by showing the fear of Khalistan. Vicious political tactics have been going on in Punjab for some time. Along with this, the votes that BJP used to get in rural areas can also go with Akali Dal. If the influence of Akali Dal increases in urban areas, then BJP is sure to suffer losses.
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Benefit or loss to Congress and AAP?
When the graph of Akali Dal started falling in Punjab, the graph of Aam Aadmi Party started increasing. In 2017, the party achieved the status of second largest party leaving behind Akali Dal and in 2022 surprised everyone and formed the government for the first time in Punjab. All those who earlier voted for Akali Dal against Congress have now gone in favor of the common man. Due to the rise of Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party may suffer losses in some areas. However, if Akali Dal becomes stronger and divides the anti-incumbency votes, Aam Aadmi Party will also benefit. For this, the plan of Akali Dal is awaited as to which areas they will focus more on.
The rise of Akali Dal can trouble Congress. The biggest reason for this is that if Akali Dal and BJP form a third front near the elections, then the anti-AAP voters will have two strong options. In such a situation, the people voting against the AAP government will be divided into two places and the Congress party will be at a direct loss due to this. Apart from this, when the Congress Party formed the government in 2017, the Jatt Sikh farmers strongly supported the party. People of this community stood with Akali Dal in 2012. In such a situation, Congress may suffer losses in rural areas. Congress may have to face difficulties on many old seats of Akali Dal where Congress has increased its support base.
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