Selective dismantling of organizational structure of SAD(B) after Punjab Assembly poll debacle

Punjab Politics: Questions are being raised, even within the party fold, whether it is another gimmick to exonerate Badals of all the mistakes committed in the past which brought the party to its ever lowest tally of just three seats, that too in alliance with BSP, in the last assembly elections.

Image courtesy: ANI

Chandigarh: Why did the SAD (B) leadership decide to dissolve its entire ‘Jathebandhik Dhancha' (organizational structure) but it didn’t touch the post of the president who is responsible for the party’s present condition? Instead, the party chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal, has been made all-powerful with the Core Committee, the highest decision-making body of SAD(B), empowering Sukhbir Badal to take steps for implementing the recommendations of the party’s Poll Review Committee. 

Questions are being raised, even within the party fold, whether it is another gimmick to exonerate Badals of all the mistakes committed in the past which brought the party to its ever lowest tally of just three seats, that too in alliance with BSP, in the last assembly elections.

Going by the records, the party’s downfall had begun in 2017 when it could manage only 15 assembly seats as against the 56 seats it had in the 2012 assembly elections. Party’s not only alleged intervention in the functioning of Sikhs' single largest representative body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC ) and even the appointment of top posts, as well as Sikh high priests, had only earned the ire of common Sikh masses.

The Poll Review Committee has recommended taking measures to rejuvenate the party in line with Panthic and Punjabi interests and values and as a first step, it recommended overhauling the entire organizational structure. Though the Poll Review Committee has recommended norms for restructuring the party and its hierarchy, it is yet to be seen whether Badals will step away to pave the way for new leadership under the restructuring of the party.

A party spokesperson informed that Sukhbir Badal would reach out to various Punjabi and Panthic personalities to start a new process of wide-ranging consultations with senior colleagues for the party’s restructuring, which itself rule out any possibility of Badal's leaving the seat for others.

Badals have been accused of nepotism and feeling suffocated, many of their senior colleagues had parted away blaming the party president and patron for compromising with the party’s principles and ignoring them. Under these circumstances, how the Badals will fulfil the aspirations of common Akalis in line with the party’s core values?