| Party Name: | Shiromani Akali Dal |
| President: | Sukhbir Singh Badal |
| Loksabha Leader: | Harsimrat Kaur Badal |
| Headquarters: | Block #6, Madhya Marg Sector 28, Chandigarh |
| Eci: | State Party[1] |
| State Seats Name: | Punjab Legislative Assembly |
| Ideology: | Punjabiyat[2] [3] [4] [5] |
| Position: | Centre-right[6] [7] to right-wing[8] |
| Publication: | Akali Awaaz |
| Youth: | Youth Akali Dal |
| Students: | Student Organisation of India[9] |
| Women: | Istri Akali Dal[10] |
| Labour: | Shiromani Akali Dal SC wing[11] |
| Peasants: | Shiromani Akali Dal BC wing[12] |
| Colours: | Navy Blue & Saffron |
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: Supreme Eternal Party[13]) is a centre-right Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920.[14] [15] [16] 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 is the one led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The party has a moderate Punjabi agenda.[17] On 26 September 2020, they left the NDA over the farm bills.[18]
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.[19] Akali movement influenced 30 new Punjabi newspapers launched between 1920 and 1925.[20]
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, 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.[21]
In the 1950s, the party launched the Punjabi Suba movement, demanding a state with majority of Punjabi speaking people, out of undivided East Punjab under the leadership of Sant Fateh Singh.[22] In 1966, the present Punjab was formed. Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab in March 1967,[23] 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.
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa along with other Akali leaders came together at a Gurdwara in Ludhiana on 7 July 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.[24]
Prior to this in late 2018, expelled senior members of Shiromani Akali Dal Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Rattan Singh Ajnala, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, their relatives and others had formed SAD (T).[25] 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, 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 to contest the Punjab elections alongside the candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Shiromani Akali Dal's main goals are the protection of Sikh rights, Punjab's waters, and opposition to the Sutlej Yamuna link canal.[26]
In 1996, at a historic conference in Moga, Shiromani Akali Dal adopted a moderate Punjabi agenda and shifted party headquarters from Amritsar to Chandigarh.[27]
Following is the list of presidents of the party as given on party website.
| S. No. | Name | Portrait | Term Start | Term End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarmukh Singh Jhabal | ? | 14 December 1920 | ? | |
| 2 | Kharak Singh | ? | ? | ||
| 3 | Master Tara Singh | ? | ? | ||
| 4 | Gopal Singh Qaumi | ? | ? | ||
| 5 | Tara Singh Thethar | ? | ? | ? | |
| 6 | Teja Singh Akarpuri | ? | ? | ||
| 7 | Babu Labh Singh | ? | ? | ? | |
| 8 | Udham Singh Nagoke | ? | ? | ||
| 9 | Giani Kartar Singh | ? | ? | ? | |
| 10 | Pritam Singh Gojran (Gujjran Sangrur) | ? | ? | ? | |
| 11 | Hukam Singh | ? | ? | ||
| 12 | Fateh Singh | ? | ? | ? | |
| 13 | Achar Singh | ? | ? | ? | |
| 14 | Bhupinder Singh | ? | ? | ? | |
| 15 | Mohan Singh Tur | ? | ? | ||
| 16 | Jagdev Singh Talwandi | ? | ? | ||
| 17 | Harchand Singh Longowal | ? | 20 August 1985 | ||
| 18 | Surjit Singh Barnala | 27 September 1985 | 1996 | ||
| 19 | Parkash Singh Badal | 1996 | 2008 | ||
| 20 | Sukhbir Singh Badal | 2008 | Incumbent |
| House | Current Members | Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Parliament | |||
| Lok Sabha | 1 | Harsimrat Kaur Badal | |
| State Legislature | |||
| Punjab Legislative Assembly | 3 / 117 | Manpreet Singh Ayali | |
| No. | Name | Term in office | Portfolio | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prakash Singh Badal | 28 March 1977 | 19 June 1979 | Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India | Morarji Desai | rowspan=2 |
| 2 | Surjit Singh Barnala | 18 June 1977 | 28 July 1979 | |||
| 19 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | rowspan=3 | ||
| 3 | Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa | 7 November 2000 | 22 May 2004 | |||
| 4 | Harsimrat Kaur Badal | 26 May 2014 | 17 September 2020 | Minister for Food Processing Industries | Narendra Modi | |
| Chief Ministers | In office | |
|---|---|---|
| Gurnam Singh | (17 February 1969 – 27 March 1970) | |
| Parkash Singh Badal | (27 March 1970 – 14 June 1971) | |
| (20 June 1977 – 17 February 1980) | ||
| (12 February 1997 – 26 February 2002) | ||
| (1 March 2007 – 16 March 2017) | ||
| Surjit Singh Barnala | (29 September 1985 – 11 June 1987) |
| Legislative Assembly elections | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election Year | Leader | seats contested | seats won | +/- in seats | Overall votes | % of overall votes | +/- in vote share | Sitting side | |
| 1937 | Master Tara Singh | 81 | 1,788,856 | 5.58 | |||||
| 1946 | Master Tara Singh | 81 | 9 | 3,550,212 | 10.94 | 5.36 | |||
| Legislative Assembly elections | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election Year | Leader | seats contested | seats won | +/- in seats | Overall votes | % of overall votes | +/- in vote share | Sitting side | |
| 1952 | Gopal Singh Khalsa | 48 | 13 | 620,455 | 12.44 | 12.44 | |||
| 1957 | Contested with Congress and 28 Akali leaders won.[29] | ||||||||
| 1962 | Gurnam Singh | 46 | 16 | 799,925 | 11.87 | 11.87 | |||
| 1967 | Sant Fateh Singh (SFSG) | 59 | 24 | 871,742 | 20.48 | 20.48 | rowspan=2 | ||
| Master Tara Singh (MTSG) | 61 | 2 | 178,746 | 4.20 | 4.20 | ||||
| 1969 | Gurnam Singh | 65 | 43 | 1,381,916 | 29.36 | 29.36 | |||
| 1972 | Jaswinder Singh Brar | 72 | 19 | 1,344,437 | 27.64 | 1.72 | |||
| 1977 | Parkash Singh Badal | 70 | 34 | 1,776,602 | 31.41 | 3.8 | |||
| 1980 | Harchand Singh Longowal | 73 | 21 | 1,683,266 | 26.92 | 4.49 | |||
| 1985 | Surjit Singh Barnala | 100 | 23 | 2,630,270 | 38.01 | 11.09 | |||
| 1992 | Boycotted the elections[30] [31] [32] | ||||||||
| 1997 | Parkash Singh Badal | 92 | 75 | 3,873,099 | 37.64 | 37.64 | |||
| 2002 | 34 | 3,196,924 | 31.08 | 6.56 | |||||
| 2007 | 93 | 7 | 4,689,018 | 37.09 | 6.01 | ||||
| 2012 | 94 | 8 | 4,828,612 | 34.73 | 2.36 | ||||
| 2017 | 41 | 3,898,161 | 25.2 | 9.4 | |||||
| 2022 | Sukhbir Singh Badal | 97 | 12 | 2,861,286 | 18.38 | 6.86 | |||
| Legislative Assembly elections | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election Year | Leader | seats contested | seats won | +/- in seats | Overall votes | % of overall votes | +/- in vote share | Sitting side | |
| 2009 | Charanjeet Kaur Mallour | 2 | 9,490,092 | 0.98 | |||||
| 2014 | Balkaur Singh | 5 | 12,426,968 | 0.6 | 0.38 | ||||
| 2019 | Rajinder Singh Desujodha | 3 | 1 | 12,520,177 | 0.38 | 0.22 | Others | ||
| Legislative Assembly elections | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election Year | Leader | seats contested | seats won | +/- in seats | Overall votes | % of overall votes | +/- in vote share | Sitting side | |
| 2013 | Manjinder Singh Sirsa | 4 | 7,699,800 | 1 | |||||
| 2015 | Manjinder Singh Sirsa | 1 | 1 | 8,978,269 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |||
Akali Dal Sant (ADS) 3, Bhartiya Jana Sangh (BJS) 1 and Indian National Congress (INC) 9 seats
https://www.elections.in/parliamentary-constituencies/1967-election-results.html