Battling for political survival, the Shiromani Akali Dal is turning the attack on party president Sukhbir Singh Badal into a larger political narrative that Punjab's moderate Sikh leadership has repeatedly come under threat. The theme is likely to take centre stage at the party's August 20 programme in Longowal village in Sangrur, where the party will observe the 41st death anniversary of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal.
The timing allows the Akali Dal to draw a direct political parallel between Longowal, who was assassinated in 1985 after signing the Rajiv Longowal Accord, and Sukhbir Badal, who survived an attack at a gurdwara in Nanded on August 13. Longowal's killing came just weeks after he signed the Punjab Accord with then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in an attempt to resolve the Punjab crisis through negotiations.
Senior Akali leader Parambans Singh Bunty Romana described the attack on Sukhbir Singh Badal as an attack on moderate Sikh leadership, while other party leaders similarly argued that targeting Sukhbir is not merely an attack on an individual but an attempt to weaken the moderate political voice in Punjab.
For the Akali Dal, Longowal provides the historical backdrop to this argument. Longowal was one of the most prominent Akali leaders during Punjab's turbulent 1980s. His decision to negotiate with the Centre and sign the Punjab Accord placed him firmly in the political space that sought a settlement through dialogue.
Four decades later, the Akali Dal is attempting to revive that legacy at a time when the party itself is fighting for political relevance. The party has suffered successive electoral setbacks and is facing an organisational challenge from rival Akali factions. The August 20 programme in Longowal has also acquired additional significance with rival Akali groups preparing their own programmes around the anniversary.
This makes the symbolism of this year's event particularly important for the Sukhbir Badal-led Akali Dal. The party is likely to use Longowal's legacy not simply to commemorate a former president, but to present itself as the inheritor of a political tradition centred on constitutional politics, negotiation and what it describes as moderate Sikh leadership.
The attack on Sukhbir therefore gives the Akali Dal a contemporary layer to its Longowal narrative. The message is likely to be that political disagreements cannot be allowed to turn into violence and that Punjab cannot afford to lose its moderate political voices. For a party battling to rebuild itself after successive electoral setbacks, the narrative also serves another political purpose. It shifts the conversation away from the Akali Dal's organisational and electoral crisis towards the larger question of Punjab's political future and the space for moderate Sikh politics.
The Akali Dal is likely to argue that from Longowal to Badal, leaders occupying the moderate political space have repeatedly faced threats, and that Punjab must ensure that moderate leadership does not once again become a casualty of political violence.
