Shiromani Akali Dal panel keeps decision on Sukhbir resignation pending

The working committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday decided to keep its decision on the resignation by president Sukhbir Singh Badal pending.
The panel will discuss the issue with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) members and district-level SAD leaders before taking a decision, party leaders said.
Party vice-president Daljit Singh Cheema had on Saturday said that working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar had convened the emergency meeting at the party’s headquarters in Chandigarh.
As Youth Akali Dal members held a protest in front of the Shiromani Akali Dal office against Badal’s resignation, party working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar said that he would hold discussions with all stakeholders on the issue.
“We will hold discussions on this issue. A SAD president always goes with the sentiments of the party workers,” Bhundar said.
On Saturday, Sukhbir Singh Badal had submitted his resignation to the party’s working committee to pave the way for the election of the new president of the SAD.
While submitting his resignation, Badal expressed gratitude to the party rank and file for their unstinted support and said he would always be beholden to them because they had stood like a rock with him and extended their overwhelming cooperation to him throughout his tenure, said SAD in a press statement.
Cheema said that the last election to the post of the president and the organizational structure of the party was held on December 14, 2019.
He said as the elections were due next month, Badal had chosen to resign to clear the way for the conduct of this exercise.
“As part of this drive, first a membership drive will be conducted, following which circle delegates will be elected. The circle delegates will in turn choose the district delegates who will elect the state delegates,” Cheema said.
In July, the Shiromani Akali Dal dissolved its core committee after a meeting held in Chandigarh. Cheema informed on X that the core committee will be reorganised shortly.