Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Overview

Sources note that the SAD(B) is a religious political party based in Sikhism (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 34; Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-11). Elections.in [1] indicates that the SAD(B) is at the far right of the political spectrum and that the party "asserts that religion and politics are synonymous," that "one cannot operate without [the other]" (Elections.in 2021-07-13). A history teacher at the Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh; however, indicated to Frontline, an Indian magazine from the same publisher as the Hindu newspaper (Frontline n.d.), that although the roots of the SAD(B) are "religious or Panthic [having to do with the Sikh community as a whole]," the party has since embraced a "'Punjabi' identity" (Frontline 2024-12-20).

According to source, the SAD(B) is Punjab-based (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 34; Elections.in 2021-07-13; Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-11; Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07), but has a national presence (Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-11; Political Handbook of the World 2023, 34) or "some presence" in Delhi and Haryana state and a "small" presence in "other states" (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07).

1.1 History and Origin

Sources note that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was formed in 1920 (Frontline 2024-12-20; India Today 2024-03-27; The Times of India 2023-05-22). According to the Political Handbook of the World 2022-2023, a number of party leaders, including former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, split off from the SAD to create their own party in 1986 (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 34, 35). The parties briefly reunited under Simranjit Singh Mann in 1987, but eventually "[f]actionalism … persisted," with various splinter groups and offshoots forming and dissolving (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 35).

In the mid-1990s, Sikh religious leadership intervened to unify the party, resulting in "half a dozen" of the more religious factions "briefly" taking the name SAD (Amritsar) (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 35). Simranjit Singh Mann in turn formed a separate party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) (SAD(M)), which still exists and is now also "frequently" called SAD(Amritsar) (SAD(A)) (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 35, 63). For additional information on SAD(M), see Response to Information Request IND202274 of May 2025.

In an interview with the Research Directorate, an emeritus professor of economics at a UK university, who researches Indian politics, economics, and human rights with a focus on Punjab, indicated that the SAD(B) is one of many factions that split from the original SAD (2025-04-07). Encyclopædia Britannica describes Parkash Singh Badal as the leader of the "largest" of the SAD factions and indicates that he became "president of the party" in 1996 (2025-03-11). The same source notes that he stepped down as president in 2008 and was succeeded in the role by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal (Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-11).

The SAD(B) formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1996 (The Hindu 2024-02-09; Tur 2020-10-03) in advance of elections for the Lok Sabha [India's lower house of Parliament] (Tur 2020-10-03). The SAD(B) and the BJP also joined forces for the Punjab Assembly elections in 1997 (Tur 2020-10-03; Elections.in 2021-07-13), which they won (Tur 2020-10-03). In 1998, the SAD(B) joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) (Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-11). However, [in 2020 (The Hindu 2024-02-09)] the SAD(B) left the NDA in response to ["controvers[ial]" (The Hindu 2024-02-09; Frontline 2024-12-20)] agriculture laws passed by the central government (The Hindu 2024-02-09; Frontline 2024-12-20; Elections.in 2021-07-13).

1.2 Assassination attempt

Media sources report that Sukhbir Singh Badal, the leader of the SAD(B), was shot at in December 2024 while outside the Golden Temple but was not injured (Reuters 2024-12-04; Zee Media 2024-12-04; India TV 2024-12-04). At the time of the shooting, Badal was performing religious penance as part of a punishment laid down by the Akal Takht (Reuters 2024-12-04; Zee Media 2024-12-04), the highest authority of the Sikh religion (Reuters 2024-12-04). Media sources note that the gunman is reported to have ties to Khalistani militantism (The Statesman 2024-12-04; India TV 2024-12-04; PTI 2025-04-12); he was arrested following the attack (The Statesman 2024-12-04; India TV 2024-12-04).

1.3 Influence

Sources indicate that the number of SAD(B) supporters has been declining (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07) or that the party's vote share has been shrinking (PTI 2025-04-12; The Statesman 2025-04-13). The Press Trust of India (PTI), a non-profit news agency "cooperatively owned" by a group of Indian newspapers (Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-20), notes that the party faced its "worst defeat" in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, with 3 candidates elected out of 117 seats (PTI 2025-04-12). The article adds that out of the 13 seats in Punjab in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, "only" 1 candidate in the Bathida [Bathinda] constituency won (PTI 2025-04-12). The Emeritus Professor noted that the SAD(B) controls Sikh religious institutions such as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) [2]; party members also sit on the governing bodies of certain institutions, including educational ones (2025-04-07).

2. Structure and Leadership

According to sources, Sukhbir Singh Badal is the party president, following his re-election in April 2025 (PTI 2025-04-12; The Statesman 2025-04-13). Sources note that Sukhbir Singh Badal had previously stepped down from party leadership in January 2025 and Balwinder Singh Bhundar [Bhunder] served as acting president in the interim (The Tribune 2025-01-10; PTI 2025-04-12). Sources indicate that, before Sukhbir Singh Badal appointed him as acting president of the party, Balwinder Singh Bhundar was a "senior" party leader (PTI 2024-08-29) or the party's secretary general and chair of its disciplinary committee and parliamentary board (The Times of India 2024-08-30). Sources note that Sukhbir Singh Badal resigned in response to his impending religious punishment from the Akal Takht (The Tribune 2025-01-10; Frontline 2024-12-20). PTI reports that the Akal Takht had declared Sukhbir Singh Badal tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct) for "'mistakes'" made by the SAD(B) government between 2007 and 2017 (PTI 2025-04-12). In an interview with the Research Directorate, an associate professor at a university in the US who has conducted research on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and specializes in the politics of India, said that the Akal Takht stated that Sukhbir Singh Badal "lost the moral right" to lead the party (Associate Professor 2025-04-16). Sources indicate that the High Priests behind the declaration of tankhaiya were eventually dismissed by the SGPC (Associate Professor 2025-04-16; The New Indian Express 2025-03-07). The Associate Professor noted the SAD(B) controls the SGPC and stated that the High Priests were dismissed for having "acted against Sukhbir Singh Badal" (Associate Professor 2025-04-16); The New Indian Express reported that their dismissals "sparked controversy" and "outrage," as they were viewed as "undermining the Akal Takht's sanctity" (The New Indian Express 2025-03-07)

According to sources, the following are or were also leaders within the party:

• Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa [Secretary General (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 35)] was expelled from "primary membership" in the party in August 2024 (The New Indian Express 2024-08-01)
• Karnail Singh Peer Mohammed resigned from his position as General Secretary and spokesperson in April 2025 (Punjab News Express 2025-04-08)
• Daljeet [Daljit] Singh Cheema, spokesperson (The Tribune 2025-01-10) or "senior party leade[r]" (PTI 2025-04-12)
• Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Parliamentary Leader (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 35) or SAD(B) Member of Parliament for Bathida, Punjab state, in the Lok Sabha and wife to Sukhbir Singh Badal (PTI 2025-04-12; Elections.in 2021-07-13)
• Paramjit Singh Sarna and Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, "party leaders" (PTI 2025-04-12)
• Bikram Singh Majithia, "senior party leade[r]" (PTI 2025-04-12)
• Parkash Singh Badal, former chief minister of Punjab [died on 25 April 2023] (Political Handbook of the World 2023, 35; Elections.in 2021-07-13)
• Sources note that the following groups are also included under the SAD(B) umbrella:
• A student wing (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07; Elections.in 2021-07-13), known as the All India Sikh Students' Federation (AISSF) (Elections.in 2021-07-13).
• A youth wing (Elections.in 2021-07-13; PTI 2023-11-14), known as the Youth Akali Dal (PTI 2023-11-14).
• A women's wing (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07; Elections.in 2021-07-13).
• A trade union (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07).
  
  

Elections.in indicates that the students', youth, and women's wings are "subsidiary yet autonomous organizations working under the ideology" of the SAD(B) (2021-07-13).

Sources indicate that in 2022, Sukhbir Singh Badal disbanded the party's organizational structure (India.com 2022-09-03) or disbanded "all" party units and offices save for his own (India Today 2022-09-16). Citing an announcement from the SAD(B), media sources note that reorganization of the party would be decided by 30 November 2022 (ANI 2022-09-02; India.com 2022-09-03; India Today 2022-09-16), and include reforming the core committee, its "highest level" decision-making body, to include youths, women, and members of "all sections of society" (ANI 2022-09-02; India.com 2022-09-03). However, the "final decision" on reforms would rest with a new parliamentary board (India Today 2022-09-16) or reforms would "only" be implemented once the party constitution was "formally" amended (India.com 2022-09-03). Information on the implementation of the party structure reform could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

The Emeritus Professor noted that the party has a president, vice president, and secretariat at district levels but there are also lower-level units and delegates from all over Punjab who elect the members of the top decision-making body (2025-04-07). The same source added that the core committee is the top decision-making body, and its members make up the main leadership of the party (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07).

The information in the following list was provided by the Times of India, citing the constitution of the SAD(B), amended in 2019:

• A jatha [an organized company of Sikhs] in any village, town, or city is made up of a minimum of 10 party members. Each location may have only 1 jatha.
• The "circle jatha" is made up of a minimum of 100 party members or of 5 local jathas. The delegates of the circle jatha are elected by the village jathas.
• The district jatha is made up of delegates elected by the circle jathas.
• The general house elects the president of the SAD(B) for a term of 5 years. The general house is made up of delegates elected by the district jathas.
• The working committee sets dates for enrollment and elections. There are 101 members of the working committee; the president nominates 61 of the committee members while the remaining 40 are elected by the general house (The Times of India 2025-01-09).
  
  

3. Objectives and Activities

Encyclopædia Britannica mentions that the SAD(B)'s philosophy is to promote "the well-being of the country's Sikh population" through political and religious platforms (2025-03-11). According to Times of India, the original mandate of the SAD, in 1920, "was to protect" the SGPC and the gurdwaras, and it subsequently became the "representative political party of the Sikh community" (2023-05-22). According to India Today, a weekly English news magazine, "Punjabiyat [3], Punjabi nationalism, conservatism, and federalism" are central in SAD(B)'s ideology; the party is a proponent of Sikh "rights and heritage" but supports a "moderate approach to regional autonomy and national integration" (India Today [2020]).

Elections.in notes that the SAD(B) invests in "power projects" and "small power-generating houses" and also provides "low-interest" loans to farmers (2021-07-13). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

4. Membership

According to India Today, in 1996 the SAD(B) "projected itself as a party of Punjabis … and opened party membership to non-Sikhs" (2024-03-27). According to the Times of India, an English-language newspaper, any adult can enroll as a "primary member" for a five-year term after paying a membership fee of 10 Indian rupees (INR) (C$0.16), provided that they have "faith in the programmes and policies of Shiromani Akali Dal; d[o] not believe in untouchability, area bias and caste system; and d[o] not drink liquor" (2025-01-09). The same source adds that membership application is open year-round, and the working committee may "reject any application"; membership expires every five years (Times of India 2025-01-09). Furthermore, the same source indicates that the constitution of the SAD(B) specifies that the president of the party "is elected by the general house for five years" (Times of India 2025-01-09).

According to the Emeritus Professor, the process of becoming a member of the party is "not so formalized" and, in general, the requirements are to believe in the Sikh religion and the political policies of the party, and to accept Guru Granth Sahib [the highest religious Guru for Sikhs] (2025-04-07).

Information on membership cards of the SAD(B) could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

5. Treatment by Authorities

Media sources indicate that the SAD(B) president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, were "arrested" (New18 2020-10-02; ABP Network 2020-10-02) or "briefly detained" (ABP Network 2020-10-02) along with other SAD workers while protesting against the farm laws in Chandigarh in October 2020 (ABP Network 2020-10-02; News18 2020-10-02).

According to the Emeritus Professor, "[n]ormally", members and supporters of the SAD(B) will not face "persecution" as the party has been in power in Punjab and was a "partner in the BJP led government at the centre" for a long time (2025-04-07). However, the same source noted that the party has since separated from the BJP (Emeritus Professor 2025-04-07). According to the Associate Professor, members of the SAD(B) "are never targeted by the government authorities" as the party does not call for separatism and had an earlier alliance with the BJP (2025-04-16). Further information on the treatment of SAD(B) members by the authorities could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] Elections.in is run by 5 Dots Partners, a research and consulting firm [based in India (5 Dots Partners n.d.a)] whose services include election analysis (5 Dots Partners n.d.b). Elections.in provides news and information on elections in India, compiled from ''various online sources'' and from the Election Commission of India (Elections.in 2020-04-30). In its disclaimer, Elections.in warns that although it intends to provide correct information, it does not guarantee the accuracy of the data (Elections.in 2020-04-30).

[2] The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is the highest governing body for Sikh gurdwaras [gurudwaras] in India and internationally; it is democratically elected by the Sikh community (SGPC n.d.). A gurdwara is a place of worship for Sikhs and "serves as a meeting place for conducting business of the congregation and wedding and initiation ceremonies" (Encyclopædia Britannica 2025-03-01).

[3] Punjabiyat or Punjabiness is a word used to describe "any aspect of Punjab's distinct language, cultural identity, history, culture, literature, nationality/ nationhood and so on" (The Tribune 2018-04-29).

References

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Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Assistant professor at a university in Canada whose research covers political parties in India; associate professor at a university in New Zealand who specializes in domestic politics in India; associate professor at a university in the US whose research focuses on political parties and elections in the developing world, particularly India; emeritus professor at a university in the Canada who specializes in Indian politics; emeritus professor at a university in the UK who specializes in Indian politics; professor at a university in Canada who specializes in Indian politics; professor at a university in the UK whose research focuses on democracy in India; professor at a university in the UK whose research focuses on politics of modern India; professor at a university in the US who researches party politics and the politics of South Asia; professor at a university in the US whose research focuses on political parties in India; professor at a university in the US who specializes in Hindu nationalism and who has published a book on Indian politics; professor at a university in the US whose research focuses on political parties in South Asia.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Associated Press; Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; BBC; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Council on Foreign Relations; CNN; Deccan Herald; The Diplomat; The Economic Times; Human Rights Watch; The Indian Express; International Crisis Group; Minority Rights Group International; National Herald; ThePrint; Sikh Coalition; Sikh Siyasat News; Taylor & Francis Online; UK – Home Office; UN – Refworld; United News India; US – CIA The World Factbook, Department of Justice.