One family, one ticket; 2 terms for president: Akali Dal ushers in reforms

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday announced sweeping organisational reforms, saying it will now follow the one family, one ticket principle at elections and ensure that half of its contestants are below 50.

The planned changes unveiled by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal are apparently triggered by the party's bad showing in the last Punjab Assembly polls and rumblings against the leadership of the Badals.

He said if the SAD comes to power in the next elections, the chairmanships of boards at the state and district levels would go to party workers. Family members of MPs and MLAs would not be considered for these posts, he said.

He said the party president would be eligible to hold office for two terms of five years each, and then have to take a break of one term. ”This will lead to induction of fresh leadership at the very top,” he added.

A party leader, however, clarified that the new measures would come into affect only when the SAD constitution is formally amended.

Sukhbir Badal has been the president of the 100-year-old party since 2008. Earlier, the post has also been held by his father and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Sukhbir Badal dissolved the SAD organisational structure over a month back, following the recommendations of a committee that analysed the reasons for the party's poll debacle. The SAD won just three out of 117 seats in the February election.

The reorganisation will take place by November 30 through party elections supervised by a new central election body, Badal said.

Recently, SAD leader Sikander Singh Maluka had threatened strict action against any indiscipline in the party. The warning came amid scattered calls for a change in the leadership of the party following its humiliating election defeat.

Badal said the party would concentrate on developing the next generation of leaders by reserving 50 per cent of the tickets in the next assembly election for party workers who are below 50.

Changes would also be effected at the party's core committee, its highest level of decision making, he said.

It would be reconstituted to include members of the new generation. Its members would include the youth, women and representatives of all sections of society, he said.

”The aim is to give maximum opportunity to workers and groom them as the next generation of leaders,” he said.

He said 117 observers would be appointed to oversee the organisational elections. Booth committees will choose the booth presidents, who will elect the circle presidents. They in turn will elect the district presidents.

The Youth Akali Dal would be reconstituted, and the upper age of its members fixed at 35. However, the YAD president can be up to 40 years old.

The Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes would be given representation in the party at all levels.

He also announced the formation of an advisory board, including learned people from all walks of life, who would advise the party president on important matters.

The changes also include formation of a parliamentary board to examine ways of attracting the best talent into the party and the best candidates for assembly elections.

Badal said a disciplinary board headed by Sikander Singh Maluka had already been formed and appealed to party workers to air their differences at the appropriate party forums, instead of going to the media.

The SAD president said the party would stick to its core principles, which include the need for a true federal structure and taking all sections of society and people from all religious faiths with it. He also stressed the need for peace and communal harmony in the state.