Analysis: Shiromani Akali Dal's Rejuvenation Plans

Punjab: SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal is reportedly holding district-wise discussions with party leaders to know the people's mood.

Pic Credit: File Photo

After hitting the lowest ebb in the last assembly elections and losing some of its staunch supporters, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is doing its best to rejuvenate the party and its leaders making whirlwind tours of state for a ‘personal' touch with their voters.

In past, the alliance partners' SAD-BJP government in Punjab was busy strategizing their policies aiming to safeguard their coalition government rather than doing public welfare or delivering public services despite releasing their elaborate political manifestos ahead of elections which boast of bringing sea changes in the development of the state, the vision of parties future policies and plans to be implemented, if voted to power.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal is reportedly holding district-wise discussions with party leaders to know the people's mood, especially with regard to the party’s benchmark document released ahead of the last assembly elections in which the party was routed in the storm of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Persuading the fence sitters and those who are displeased with the party’s certain decisions is certainly an uphill task for the senior SAD leadership even as leaders like part president Sukhbir Badal, Bikram Singh Majithia, etc. have been regularly meeting party leaders and supporters, visiting their homes and attending their family functions but at the same time ensuring that their every visit gets enough media coverage, after all the dynamics of visual politics leaves an everlasting impression on the minds of would-be voters.

The ensuing Jalandhar Lok Sabha election is going to be a litmus test for all the political parties in Punjab with Akali’s working overtime to not only raise its vote bank but also keep it intact even as many senior party leaders have marooned Sukhbir Badal to join other parties for the sake of their own political future.

If sources are to be believed,  the SAD is also evaluating the past performance of some of the party leaders, educating them on what commitments are to be made while moving in public and which issues of the opposition political parties are to be criticized, and at what pitch and the importance given to the Panthic issues on which the party dwells.

Sukhbir’s recent visit to various assembly constituencies such as Adampur, Kartapur, etc. ahead of the Jalandhar parliamentary elections and also, presumably, shortlisting the candidates, not only shows that the party is in full election mode but also making attempts to reach grassroots voters aiming to retain power in Punjab in the next assembly elections.