Sukhbir Singh Badal

Devendra Fadnavis' return to Maharashtra throne, assassination attempt on Sukhbir Singh Badal in Punjab and more in this week's political news wrap

A day after he survived a bid on his life, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday performed the duty of 'sewadar' outside Takht Kesgarh Sahib in Punjab's Rupnagar district amid tight security. The former deputy chief minister, a Z+ protectee, arrived at the Ananadpur Sahib shrine surrounded by security personnel. Dressed in blue 'sewadar' uniform, Badal sat at the entrance of the gurdwara with a spear in one hand. He is undergoing religious punishment pronounced by the Akal Takht, the temporal body of Sikhs, for "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government and his party in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. Besides the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Akal Takht has asked Badal to perform the service of 'sewadar' at Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Takht Damdama Sahib, and Darbar Sahib in Muktsar and Fatehgarh Sahib for two days each. On the second day of his penance at the Golden Temple on Wednesday, Badal had a narrow escape as a former Khalistani terrorist fired

Earlier, on Wednesday, the news of tyre blast was reported as 'major bomb blast' incident, according to several media reports

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday condemned the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at Golden Temple in Amritsar and lauded the Punjab Police for averting a "very big" tragedy. Speaking in Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal also hit out at the BJP, saying "very big powers" are conspiring to defame Punjab and people of the state. "The Punjab Police not only averted the tragedy but also set an example of how to maintain law and order," the former Delhi chief minister said. He said that the issue of attack on Badal was raised by the BJP, but the party was silent over the "murders, rapes, shooting in Delhi" where police come under the Central government. A former terrorist opened fire at Badal from a close range while he was performing the duty of 'sewadar' outside the Golden Temple on Wednesday but missed as he was overpowered by a plainclothes policeman. The audacious attack was captured on cameras of mediapersons who had gathered outside the Sikh shrine to cover

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly condemned the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was fired at while performing 'sewa' outside the Golden Temple on Wednesday morning, and directed police to investigate the incident. The chief minister also lauded the promptness of the Punjab Police in nabbing the attacker. The man missed Badal as he was overpowered by police. The audacious attack was captured on cameras of media persons who had gathered outside the Sikh shrine to cover the second day of Badal's penance for "mistakes" committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. "Punjab Police prevented a major incident from happening today. It is the result of the promptness of the Punjab Police that the conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis has failed," Mann said in a post on X. "The police achieved great success by arresting the assailant on the spot with their promptness... I strongly condemn the attack on Sukhbir Badal ji. I have issued

A man attempted to shoot Sukhbir Singh Badal at Amritsar's Golden Temple as he served his penance under religious punishment

The 104-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is set for a reorganisation following the Akal Takht's decision to form a committee to oversee elections for the party president's post and other office bearers. The party's political fortunes have waned in recent years under the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal, who, three months ago, was declared tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht. On Monday, the Sikh clergy issued a tankhah' (religious punishment) for Badal and other leaders for mistakes committed by the SAD and its government in Punjab between 2007 and 2017. Prior to the pronouncement of the punishment, Badal admitted to several mistakes, including pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during SAD government's tenure in Punjab. Sukhbir Badal, the former deputy chief minister, was credited with the party's victory in the 2012 assembly elections. However, the SAD won only 15 out of 117 seats in the 2017 elections and just three seats in the 2

The punishment was handed down after the Akal Takht held Badal accountable for favouring Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the 2015 sacrilege case involving the Guru Granth Sahib

The Sikh clergy at the Akal Takht on Monday pronounced 'tankhah' (religious punishment) for Sukhbir Singh Badal for the "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, directing him to perform as a 'sewadar' and clean utensils and shoes at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Pronouncing the order from the 'faseel' (podium) of the Akal Takht in Amritsar, Jathedar of the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, Giani Raghbir Singh, also directed the working committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to accept the resignation of Sukhbir Badal as party chief, besides forming a committee to hold elections for the post of SAD president and office-bearers within six months. The Jathedar further announced to withdraw the title of 'Fakhre-e-Qaum' bestowed upon former chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal, father of Sukhbir Badal. The five Singh Sahibans (Sikh clergy) also pronounced religious punishment for other Sikh leaders who served as ministers in

Sukhbir Singh Badal will receive 'punishment' from religious authorities for his acts as chief minister of Punjab. The question is whether a reinvention of Badal and the Akali Dal will follow

The resignation of Badal (62), who is the son of five-time Punjab chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal, came amid vociferous demand by several rebel party leaders

Facing rebellion by a section of party leaders, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday dissolved its core committee, the outfit's highest decision-making body. Several senior party leaders, including some from the core committee, had last month demanded that Badal step down as the party chief following its debacle in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. The leaders who had raised the banner of rvolt included former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala and former ministers Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Surjit Singh Rakhra. Chandumajra, Maluka, Wadala and Rakhra were among the members of the core committee. SAD senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Tuesday said the core committee of the SAD has been dissolved. He said that the working committee of the party has authorised Badal to reorganise the party organisation. "In this regard the party President discussed in detail with his senior colleagues

Amid voices emerging within the party calling for a change at the top, the Shiromani Akali Dal core committee Thursday held a detailed discussion on its drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, and reposed full faith in Sukhbir Singh Badal's leadership SAD leader Charanjit Singh Brar wrote an open letter to party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, suggesting him to form a committee in the larger interests of the party. The Badal-led SAD faced a drubbing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it could manage to win only the Bathinda parliamentary constituency out of total 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. The SAD also saw a drop in its vote share from 27.45 percent in 2019 to 13.42 percent in 2024 polls. The meeting of SAD's core committee, which is the party's top decision making body, started at 3 pm and continued till 9:30 pm. In a statement, the party said the core committee held a prolonged and in-depth discussion on the prevailing political situation in the state, including analysis and introspection of

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has an "understanding" with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to split AAP into a separate Punjab unit after the elections, like Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde did in Maharashtra, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed on Saturday. Badal made the claim while addressing rallies at Sunam and Dhuri for the Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) Sangrur candidate Iqbal Singh Jhundan. "Bhagwant Mann has compromised with the BJP as he felt he would also be arrested like his boss (Arvind) Kejriwal because he had also perpetrated the same liquor scam as done by AAP in Delhi. This understanding has saved him from arrest," Badal alleged. Shiv Sena leader Shinde became Maharashtra chief minister after parting ways with Uddhav Thackeray and forming an alliance with the BJP. The Election Commission of India has since recognised the Shinde faction as officially representing the Shiv Sena while the Thackeray-led faction has been using the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) name. The

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday said the 'aam aadmi' of Punjab were the most distressed in the AAP government's regime with people being denied even the basic facilities. The SAD president, who travelled across Tarn Taran and Khadoor Sahib assembly constituencies as part of the 'Punjab Bachao Yatra' said, "This government cannot aspire to represent the common man who is suffering in this regime which is being run by remote control from Delhi." Badal added that the "remote control" in Delhi is being used to "spread the wings of AAP across the country rather than fulfill the aspirations of the 'aam aadmi' (common man) in Punjab". Badal said infrastructure had gone to "rot" during the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) regime, be it link roads or sewerage systems or even roads and streetlights in villages. He added that the poor were being denied social welfare benefits. The SAD president interacted with labourers who told him that they were the worst-affected in th

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and ensure that cotton should be procured at the minimum support price (MSP) in Punjab. In a statement here, the SAD president said it was shocking that instead of giving the MSP of Rs 6,920 a quintal for long-staple cotton, as was done earlier, the Cotton Corporation of India imposed a quality cut of Rs 150 and was giving the assured price of Rs 6,770 per quintal to farmers. Farmers in the Abohar belt were suffering because the CCI was procuring the produce in bits and spurts, he claimed. The procurement was stopped on November 30 and restarted on December 7 only, he said, adding that it again stopped on December 9. Badal said the repeated stoppage of procurement was forcing farmers to sell their crops to private players who were purchasing the produce in the price range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,200 per quintal. Farmers were forced to go in for distress sale as they could

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal sent a legal notice to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday, asking him to tender an unconditional apology within five days for levelling "malicious" allegations against the Badal family during a debate at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana. According to the notice, Badal will seek remedies as available in the law for causing wilful defamation and libel in case Mann fails to tender the apology. The legal notice was sent by Badal's lawyer, Arshdeep Singh Kler. The notice accuses Mann of defaming Badal and his family with his "false" and "malicious" allegation that an irrigation branch was created to carry canal water to the Badal farm in Haryana's Balasar village. The allegations were levelled by the chief minister during the "Main Punjab Bolda Haan" debate held at an auditorium of the PAU on November 1. Opposition leaders from the Congress, SAD and BJP had skipped the event. "In a pre-planned and ..