Shiromani Akali Dal
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (Panjabi ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ, also just Akali Dal, "Supreme Party of God") is a Sikh political party in the Indian state of Punjab.
It was founded with substantial Khalsa support in the 1920s after the formation of the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee), a religious group that emerged as a result of the movement to protect Sikh temples (gurdwara) from corrupt priests. Thus, in a sense, Akali Dal sees itself as a politico-religious party and the most distinguished representative of the Sikhs. Baba Kharak Singh became the first president of Akali Dal, and under Tara Singh Akali Dal grew to a power factor not to be underestimated.
The party agitated for a Sikh-dominated state from an undivided Punjab led by Sant Fateh Singh. In 1966, Punjab was created, but its partition led to bitter conflicts so that none of the parties was satisfied. Akali Dal came to power in Punjab but the conflicts remained unresolved.
The history of Akali Dal is a history of splits and factionalism. Each faction claimed to be the real Akali Dal. In 2003, SAD under Parkash Singh Badal became the largest faction and was recognized as SAD by the Election Commission of India. The other factions include Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal under Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann) (also "SAD (Amritsar)"), and Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthik) under Amarinder Singh (later united with the Congress Party), Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi, Shiromani Akali Dal (Democrats), Haryana State Akali Dal and Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal). In the fall of 2003, the Badal and Tohra factions united.
In the state of Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal first succeeded the hitherto dominant Congress Party in government in 1967. Since then, the two parties have alternated as the strongest party in virtually every election in the state. In 2012, the Shiromani Akali Dal repeated its electoral success for the first time. Because it relies on the votes of the Hindu minority, which makes up more than a third of the population in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal has been in coalition with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since the late 1990s.
Apart from Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal is also represented in parliament in Haryana and Delhi, both states with considerable Sikh minorities. Here, however, it plays a subordinate role with only one seat each.
At the all-India level, the Shiromani Akali Dal has been a member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party alliance since 1998 and holds ministerial posts in the Modi I cabinet (2014-2019).
The programme of the Shiromani Akali Dal is to give a political voice to Sikh interests. Religion and politics are not seen as separate, but belong together.
