The kirpan assault on Shiromani Akali Dal president and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at Nanded in Maharashtra this week—the second try on his life in lower than two years—comes whilst Badal struggles to reverse a decade-long electoral slide, searches for a approach again to the poll field, even because the shadow of the “beadbi” or “sacrilege” incidents of 2015 proceed to forged a shadow over its management.
In the meantime, hypothesis about an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP), Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) former accomplice, refuses to subside within the run-up to the Meeting elections in February 2027.
A troubled previous revisits
The assault got here almost 20 months after Badal survived a firing try outdoors the Golden Temple in Amritsar in December 2024, whereas serving a non secular punishment (tankhah) imposed by the Akal Takht for the Akali Dal authorities’s dealing with of the sacrilege occasions at Bargari and the police firing at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.
Investigators insist each assaults had been carried out by people angered over sacrilege reasonably than organised terror modules, setting them aside from the broader sample of militant strikes Punjab has witnessed.
Panthic vote in flux
The Akali Dal, as soon as dominant, now faces stiff competitors for panthic and Sikh votes. Waris Punjab De, led by jailed MP Amritpal Singh, has drawn hardline help, whereas Damdami Taksal, which seems to be softer in the direction of the BJP, has introduced plans to contest elections.
Including complexity, Punjab’s Chief Minister just lately expressed sympathy for Beant Singh assassination convict Jagtar Singh Hawara, who additionally claims the title of parallel Akal Takht Jathedar. These developments increase questions on who will seize the essential Sikh vote in 2027.
Sample of violence
Punjab has seen a spate of grenade and petrol bomb assaults on political workplaces and safety installations, many traced to Pakistan’s ISI working by means of Khalistani outfits. The BJP workplaces in Chandigarh and Sangrur had been focused earlier this 12 months, whereas senior chief Manoranjan Kalia’s Jalandhar residence was hit with a grenade. Greater than 30 grenade assaults have struck police posts since September 2024, underscoring the delicate safety atmosphere.
Political reactions
The Nanded assault drew condemnation by varied events, although many urged the Akali Dal to mirror on its dealing with of the sacrilege situation. SAD leaders Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema reiterated the get together’s dedication to reasonable Sikh ideology and accused communal forces of concentrating on its management. From jail, Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted within the 1995 assassination of Chief Minister Beant Singh, described the Akali Dal as an “eyesore” for anti-Sikh forces, citing previous assassinations and assaults on its leaders.
Dr Parmod Kumar of the Institute for Growth and Communication, Chandigarh, positioned the incident inside Punjab’s longer political arc. He famous that reasonable management has traditionally been the primary goal of radical politics. He warned that violent acts framed as non secular revenge acquire legitimacy when political leaders rationalise or rejoice them—a harmful sample Punjab witnessed within the Nineteen Eighties, resulting in institutional collapse and tragedy.
(with inputs from Mohit Khanna)
