Sukhbir Singh Badal stepped down as president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday, November 16, marking the end of his tenure as the party's leader. Senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema confirmed the resignation on X (formerly known as Twitter).
In a post on X, Cheema said, “The SAD President S. Sukhbir Singh Badal submitted his resignation to the working committee of the party today to pave the way for the election of a new President. He thanked all the party leaders and workers for expressing confidence in his leadership and extending wholehearted support and cooperation throughout his tenure.”
Former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said, "We were demanding his resignation as SAD has weakened under his presidentship... Our youths are in jail, farming isn't doing well and our part of Chandigarh is being given to Haryana. Punjab is in a bad state now and the people here want any regional party like Akali Dal to strengthen. Today, after his resignation, a way has opened to integrate the power of Akali Dal..."
"SAD is a democratic party and according to the party's constitution there are elections for the post of president after every 5 years. Our last election was held on 14th December 2019. Next month, we are going to complete 5 years on 14th December. So, it is a democratic process that the President has just resigned. On 18th November, we have a meeting of the working committee with the party head. It will consider the resignation and will also release the detailed program of the election...Anyone can contest the election, the final decision has to be taken in the house, whoever has the majority is selected as the president," said SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema.
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Earlier in August, the Akal Takht had declared Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal as "tankhaiya"—a term signifying guilt of religious misconduct. The declaration was made in connection with alleged "mistakes" committed during his party's tenure in government between 2007 and 2017.