Chandigarh, May 20 (PTI) Rebel Akali MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali on Wednesday announced his resignation from all posts of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit).
Ayali, who is a legislator from the Dakha assembly constituency, also announced quitting the position of convener of the coordination committee, which was forced to explore the possibility of forging an alliance between the SAD (Punar Surjit) and SAD (Waris Punjab De).
Ayali’s exit came days after former minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, who was expelled from SAD (Punar Surjit), joined the AAP.
In April, Barjinder Singh Brar, the son of former minister Tota Singh, quit the SAD (Punar Surjit) and rejoined the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal.
Before him, another party leader, Charanjit Singh Brar, left the party and joined the BJP.
Announcing his resignation from the party on his Facebook page, Ayali ascribed his decision to party leaders, who lost the moral right to be part of the Akali Dal as per the 2024 Akal Takht ‘hukamnama’, not stepping down from party positions.
Without naming anyone, Ayali said he had pointed out that according to the sentiments of the ‘Sangat’, those leaders should be kept away from party positions.
In a social media post, Ayali said he will not join the Congress, BJP, AAP or the Sukhbir Badal-led SAD.
SAD (Punar Surjit), a breakaway faction of the Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal, was formed by rebel Akali leaders Bibi Jagir Kaur, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Surjit Singh Rakhra and Iqbal Singh Jhundan last year.
Meanwhile, SAD (Punar Surjit) leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala slammed Ayali for his decision, alleging that the Dakha MLA has “shown his back” to the Akal Takht by resigning from party posts.
“This platform was created by the Akal Takht Sahib, and five members — including Manpreet Singh Ayali — were given this important responsibility of recruitment,” he said.
Wadala said Ayali’s allegations against the senior leadership were completely baseless because the same recruitment committee had selected 15 lakh workers and chose those senior leaders as delegates.
“This same recruitment committee selected those senior leaders as delegates. They became party office-bearers only after becoming delegates. So, by accusing these leaders, Ayali has turned his back on the Akal Takht,” said Wadala.
Ayali was part of the Akal Takht-appointed committee for the SAD’s membership drive on December 2, 2024. The committee also had a mandate to supervise the reorganisation of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
The Akal Takht had formed a seven-member committee, which was reduced to five members after two opted out.
At that time, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs had pronounced “punishment” for SAD leader Sukhbir Badal and others for the “sins” of the party and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.
Badal was declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) after rebel leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, ex-MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, and former minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, appeared before the Akal Takht on July 1, 2024, and sought forgiveness for “mistakes” during the SAD regime between 2007 and 2017. PTI CHS RUK RUK
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