Shiromani Akali Dal

Shiromani Akali Dal
ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ
President Sukhbir Singh Badal
Founded 14 December 1920
Headquarters Block #6, Madhya Marg
Sector 28, Chandigarh
Student wing Student Organisation of India [1] (SOI)[2]
Youth wing Youth Akali Dal
Ideology Punjabiyat[3]
Punjabi Nationalism[4]
Political position Right-wing
Colours Orange  
ECI Status State Party[5]
Alliance National Democratic Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha
4 / 545
Seats in Rajya Sabha
3 / 245
Election symbol
Website
www.shiromaniakalidal.net

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Punjabi: ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a political party in India. There are a large number of parties with the name "Shiromani Akali Dal". The party recognised as "Shiromani Akali Dal" by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. It controls Sikh religious bodies Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and is the largest and most influential Sikh political party worldwide. The basic philosophy of Akali Dal is to give political voice to Sikh issues and it believes that religion and politics go hand in hand.

History

British India

Akali Dal was formed on 14 Dec 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.

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.[6]

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.[7]

Independent India

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. In 1966, the present Punjab was formed. Akali Dal came to power in the new Punjab, 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.

Present political position

The previous Punjab government was formed by Akali Dal in partnership with its regional and national ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It had 59 members in Punjab Legislative Assembly and combined with 12 of BJP, formed a majority government. Party patron and ex-president Parkash Singh Badal was the Chief Minister of Punjab and the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal was deputy-chief minister. The party lost the elections held on 04th February 2017. Currently the party has 15 MLAs in the 117 seat Punjab Assembly. The party has 4 members in the Lok Sabha. Party's main political opponent is Indian National Congress. In the recent Delhi Assembly elections it did not retain the one seat it held in 2013 elections.

Party presidents

Following is the list of presidents of the party as given on party website.

Punjab Chief Minister belonging to Akali Dal

In general elections

Year General election Seats won Change in # of seats Percentage of vote Vote swing
Indian general election, 1945 6th Central Legislative Assembly 2 Increase 2
Indian general election, 1951 1st Lok Sabha 4 0.99%
Indian general election, 1957 2nd Lok Sabha 0 ? Decrease4
Indian general election, 1962 3rd Lok Sabha 3 Increase3 0.72%
Indian general election, 1967 4th Lok Sabha 0[8] Decrease3
Indian general election, 1971 5th Lok Sabha 1 Increase1 0.87%
Indian general election, 1977 6th Lok Sabha 9 Increase8 1.26%
Indian general election, 1980 7th Lok Sabha 1 Decrease 8 0.71%
Indian general election, 1984 8th Lok Sabha 7 Increase 7 17.9%
Indian general election, 1989 9th Lok Sabha 0 Decrease7
Indian general election, 1991 10th Lok Sabha 0 Steady
Indian general election, 1996 11th Lok Sabha 8 Increase 8 0.76%
Indian general election, 1998 12th Lok Sabha 8 Steady 0.81%
Indian general election, 1999 13th Lok Sabha 10 Increase 2 25.58%
Indian general election, 2004 14th Lok Sabha 8 Decrease 2 34.28%
Indian general election, 2009 15th Lok Sabha 4 Decrease 4 0.96%
Indian general election, 2014 16th Lok Sabha 4 Steady 20.30% Decrease 13.55%

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SOI".
  2. ↑ "SOI Clash". Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Service, Tribune News (8 October 2015). "SAD aims to widen reach, to contest UP poll". http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/sad-aims-to-widen-reach-to-contest-up-poll/132330.html. Retrieved 8 October 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  4. ↑ Pandher, Sarabjit (3 September 2013). "In post-Independence India, the SAD launched the Punjabi Suba morcha in the 1960s, seeking the re-organisation of Punjab on linguistic basis.". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Jalal, The Sole Spokesman 1994, p. 23, 97.
  7. ↑ Talbot, Pakistan: A Modern History 1998, p. 74.
  8. ↑ Akali Dal – Sant Fateh Singh, a splinter group won 3 seats

Bibliography

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