Akali Dal

Punjab Cabinet approves loan waiver worth ₹68 crore for Dalit families

The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to waive loans amounting Rs 68 crore taken by over 4,000 Dalit families from the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said. At a cabinet meeting chaired by Mann in Chandigarh, it was decided that debt accrued till March 31, 2020 will be waived. Addressing the media after the meeting, the chief minister said the state government will waive the debt incurred due to loans taken by Dalit families from the corporation for various purposes, including for opening shops, dairy farming, etc. The decision will benefit 4,727 beneficiaries, he said. Mann said Finance Minister Harpal Sigh Cheema in his budget speech this March had promised to waive the debt. With the cabinet approval, the promise will now be fulfilled, he said. Cheema, who was also at the media briefing, said the debt would include the principal amount and any interest on it, including penal interest. It is a big relief for the

Veteran Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa dies at 89 after illness

Veteran Akali leader and former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa died Wednesday evening following age-related health issues at a private hospital in Mohali. He was 89. He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. According to a statement by the hospital, Dhindsa was admitted on Tuesday in a critical condition. He was suffering from severe pneumonia and cardiac complications, compounded by age-related health issues. "Despite the best efforts of the multidisciplinary medical team, he passed away at approximately 5:05 PM today due to cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac arrest," it said. Dhindsa's son Parminder Singh Dhindsa was the finance minister in the erstwhile Akali government. Sukhdev Dhindsa became Shiromani Akali Dal Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur in 2004. He was the Union minister of sports, chemicals and fertilizers in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Dhindsa was a Rajya Sabha MP from 1998 to 2004 and from 2010 to 2022. The Akali stalwart was given Padma Bhushan in

BJP and Akali Dal brought drugs to Punjab, says Minister Harpal Cheema

He further stated that over 872 FIRS had been filed in the last 1.5 weeks and about 1200 crore people had been arrested

SAD accepts Badal's resignation, announces new president election on Mar 1

The working committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Friday accepted the resignation of Sukhbir Singh Badal as party chief, party leaders said. The move came over a month after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh asked the SAD to implement the December 2 edict at the earliest, while referring to the direction of accepting the resignation of Badal. Badal's resignation was accepted in the working committee meeting held at the party's headquarters here. Speaking to reporters after his resignation was accepted, Badal thanked the party workers and leaders for their support. Badal had tendered his resignation as the party chief on November 16 last year but the party's working committee did not accept his resignation, appealing him to reconsider his resignation otherwise the entire committee would resign enmasse. While pronouncing the religious punishment for Badal and other leaders for the "mistakes" committed by the SAD and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017 on December 2

Sukhbir Badal to face religious censure: Will Akali Dal chart a new path?

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

Rebel Akali leaders launch campaign aimed at strengthening outfit

Rebel Akali leaders on Monday launched a 'Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar' aimed to "strengthen and uplift" the 103-year-old outfit while asserting that the party's present situation under the current leadership indicates that its "existence was in danger". A section of the senior party leaders last month had revolted against SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, demanding that he should step down as the party chief following its debacle in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. Among the prominent leaders who raised a banner of revolt included former MP Chandumajra, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, former ministers Sikandar Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sarwan Singh Phillaur and Surjit Singh Rakhra, and party leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur. The rebel Akali leaders on Monday appointed former MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala as the platform's convener. "We are going to start 'Shiromani Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar'. We request all Punjabis and ...

Centre must fulfill promises made to farmers: Akali leader Daljit Cheema

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former education minister of Punjab, Daljit Singh Cheema, on Tuesday rendered support to farmers who have embarked on the 'Delhi Chalo' protest

After ED summons Kejriwal, Akali Dal asks for probe into Punjab Excise scam

He also alleged the role of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha

Akali Dal 'saddened' over auction of Golden Temple model gifted to PM Modi

The proceeds of the auction will go to the government's 'Namami Gange' initiative, a project aimed at rejuvenating the river Ganga

Akali Dal asks Punjab Assembly speaker to train AAP MLAs on SYL canal issue

Akali Dal leader Cheema also took a dig at AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Sandeep Pathak for openly siding with Haryana on the issue

UCC will have adverse impact on minority, tribal communities: Akali Dal

The Shiromani Akali Dal Wednesday said the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) throughout the country would have an adverse impact on the minority and tribal communities. The opposition party in Punjab also slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for extending its "in-principle" support to the UCC, saying the nod has exposed its "anti-minority face." In a statement here, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said Akali Dal has always opposed the Uniform Civil Code for the entire country and it would submit its reservations on the issue to the 22nd Law Commission as well as in Parliament. He said the party believed that civil laws in the country were influenced by faith, belief, caste and customs and were different for different religions. "These should be retained in the interest of safeguarding the social fabric as well as the concept of unity in diversity," said Cheema. The SAD's remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed for the implementation of the UCC at

Punjab CM blames Akali, Cong govts of patronising gangsters, drug peddlers

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the state will be freed of gangsters and drug peddlers and accused the previous Akali and the Congress governments of patronising them. Mann complimented the Punjab Police for an operation against two gangsters in Amritsar. Gangsters Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa, allegedly involved in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, were gunned down in a nearly five-hour-long encounter with the Punjab Police at an Amritsar village on Wednesday. Mann said his government will not allow anyone to disturb peace in the state. It is my guarantee to the people that we will not allow anyone to disturb hard-earned peace in the state and every effort will be made to maintain peace and communal harmony in Punjab by making it free from gangsters and drug smugglers, he said. Mann alleged that the gangsters and drug peddlers were patronised by the previous governments. Under the protection of Akalis and Congress, these gangst

No hope for Akali Dal's revival till Badal, Majithia at helm: Channi

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday said till the time Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia are at the helm of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the party cannot hope for a revival

The man who will win

Whatever the outcome of the elections, the biggest loser in the politics of the state will be the Akali Dal, which is being battered from all sides

A sporting chance for SAD to resurrect itself in 'tricky poll'

State watchers say that the Akalis will be aided by other factors as well. It is seen as aligned with the farmers' cause in the state by virtue of splitting up with the BJP

Akali leader Manjinder Sirsa joins BJP ahead of Punjab assembly polls

He joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders and Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Punjab's real problem: The loss of its entrepreneurial impulse

Punjab, once India's richest state, has slipped and fallen behind. It needs to get off the paddy-wheat-MSP high and rediscover its entrepreneurial impulse

Farm laws issue: SAD says will initiate national pro-farmer front

Akali Dal prez Sukhbir Singh Badal said that his party would take the lead to form a "national pro-farmer front" of regional parties against the three pieces of farm legislation passed by Parliament

SAD faces existential crisis; Shah holds key to Badals' political survival

Thanks to the Narendra Modi factor, in the 2019 general elections, the Akali Dal won two seats, the same as the BJP. Now the key to the Badals' survival lies with Home Minister Amit Shah

Akalis 'sold out' Punjab's interests by supporting ordinances: Punjab CM

The chief minister, however, asserted that he would take the fight against the ordinances related to the agriculture sector to the Centre.