Badal’s offensive — 9 more dissident MLAs expelled

The Akali Dal had earlier taken this extreme action against Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, Harmel Singh, Inderjit Singh Zira and Daljit Kaur.

The immediate provocation for this action seems to be the repeated attempts of the dissidents to mobilise enough support to replace Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Technically, the Akali Dal has 74 members in the Vidhan Sabha excluding Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Nirmal Singh Kahlon who could not be allotted party symbol while the alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has a strength of 18 members. Even after the expulsion of these 13 members, the Akali Dal continues to have absolute majority in a House of 117 members. It is a different matter that as per the interpretation of 1996 verdict of the Supreme Court, the MLAs expelled from the party would continue to be the members of that party in the House.

Finance Minister and party spokesman Captain Kanwaljit Singh, who announced the decision at a news conference after a meeting of the Akali Dal political affairs committee, said he felt sad on expulsions. It was a difficult decision taken with a heavy heart against own colleagues. He said party discipline was above personal emotions.

The PAC had earlier been delegated powers by the working committee before the party elections in March last.

Ravi Inder Singh, a relative of Badal, who has been the rallying point for the dissidents, had earlier been suspended from the party. The resolution passed at the PAC meeting, stated that he was in league with the Congress who joined hands with Tohra to weaken Akali Dal. He indulged in baseless and misleading propaganda against the Akali Dal-BJP government. He was served show-cause notice on November 11 last. As his reply received on December 15 was not found to be satisfactory, Ravi Inder Singh was suspended from the primary membership of the party. The action failed to prove a deterrent and he intensified his anti-party activities, participating in the AISAD conferences at Morinda, Anandpur Sahib and Badal.

The PAC passed three nearly identical resolutions expelling Ravi Inder Singh in one, six associates of Tohra in the second and two other MLAs in the third resolution. In all the three resolutions, the thrust is on their joining hands with the Congress and the AISAD to weaken the ruling Akali Dal. All along, Badal has been attacking the dissidents for playing into the hands of the Congress.

The resolution expelling six associates of Tohra also charged them with opposing the official party candidate in the Nawanshahr Vidhan Sabha bye-election and said as such, they had lost their right to continue as members of the Akali Dal.

SGPC Bibi Jagir Kaur and Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal were conspicuous by their absence. Another PAC members, Cooperation Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, is abroad.