Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh has summoned a meeting of the five high priests on January 28 to discuss 'Panthic' issues, including the Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) membership drive.
Though Akal Takht secretariat officials in Amritsar did not disclose the agenda of the meeting of five 'Singh Sahibans' (Sikh high priests), they said it will discuss some important "Panthic" issues at the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) announced that it has decided to depute rebel leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala as an observer for its new membership drive, which commenced on January 20.
While pronouncing on December 2 religious punishment for Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders for the "mistakes" committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, the Akal Takht had also formed a seven-member committee for starting the membership drive and holding the elections for the post of SAD president and other office bearers within six months.
The seven-member committee comprised Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, former SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badhungar, SAD leader Iqbal Singh Jhunda, rebel leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala, MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, Santa Singh Umaidpur and Satwant Kaur.
But the SAD working committee on January 10 formed a panel to oversee the membership drive, which started on January 20.
Though the working committee of SAD retained five members from the Akal Takht-appointed seven-member committee for the party's restructuring, it left out Wadala and Satwant Kaur.
On January 11, the Akal Takht jathedar had asserted that the seven-member committee had not been disbanded and it still stands.
Several dissident leaders including Wadala had accused the SAD leadership of not implementing the Akal Takht edict in toto.
Wadala had even met the Akal Takht jathedar, pointing out that the SAD leadership was not fully implementing the December 2 edict of the Akal Takht.
Wadala had claimed that it was only the seven-member committee, formed by the Akal Takht on December 2 last year, which could undertake the membership drive of the 104-year-old political outfit.
He had even asked SGPC chief Dhami to call a meeting of the seven-member committee for the membership drive.
SAD senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Thursday said new observers have been deputed for supervising the membership drive of the party.
In the new list, Wadala, among others, was appointed as an observer for Faridkot.
The decision was taken in the meeting of the parliamentary board of the party presided over by working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, said Cheema.
Cheema also clarified that if Satwant Kaur wants to serve the party, she is most welcome to join it.
"She belongs to one of the most respected religious families of Punjab and her presence in the party will be a matter of honour for it. As she is an employee of the SGPC and drawing salary from the apex religious body, she will have to resign from her post before joining a political party as per the rules," said Cheema.
"The SAD reiterated that it has no hesitation to give responsibility to her. The decision to join or not to join is to be taken by Bibi Satwant Kaur herself," said Cheema.
Earlier, Wadala had refuted the SAD's claims, and said the jathedar had not permitted the working committee of the party to take a call on the membership drive.
The SAD had earlier said it apprised the jathedar of the legal hurdles being faced by the party in implementing his directive to form a seven-member committee to hold organisational elections of the party and claimed that the jathedar had agreed to its contention.
The SAD had apprised the jathedar that reorganization of the party through the seven-member committee formed by the Akal Takht might lead to losing its recognition from the Election Commission of India as a political party should run in a secular manner and not as per directions of a religious body.
Of the seven-member committee, Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali and other leader Santa Singh Umaidpur have already refused to take up the responsibility given by the SAD working committee. They have said that they would go by the Akal Takht directive.
The SAD had given Ayali and Umaidpur the responsibility of overseeing the membership drive in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, respectively.
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