Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) is a hard-line Sikh nationalist political party led by Simranjit Singh Mann, it is a splinter group of the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, India. They use 'Balti', the Punjabi term for bucket as their official election symbol. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) was formed on 1 May 1994. The party has seen a resurgence in support after the death of Deep Sidhu who was a supporter and seen as sympathetic to the cause of Simranjit Singh Mann. Their 2022 Lok Sabha victory after more than two decades was viewed as a resurgence in a political vacuum due to collapse of other traditional political parties in Punjab. However, it failed to retain the seat in 2024. The last major victory for Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) was in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, where the party and their allies won 10 out of 13 seats from Punjab.
Electoral success
The party's most significant success was in the 1989 Indian general elections when they won six out of the 13 seats in Punjab. The party espouses the ideology of Punjabiyat and Sikh nationalism. Moreover, the party won the parliamentary seat of Sangrur in 1999 and 2022 (by-elections). Also, Mann emphasized his priority will be to "work with the Punjab government" to "raise the poor economic condition of Sangrur including the condition of farmers under debt". The party contested the SGPC elections on the same plank and won three seats.
The only time an MLA belonging to SAD (A) was ever elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly was in the election of 1997 when Sardar Ajit Inder Singh won from the constituency of Sardulgarh by defeating the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate by 3,117 votes.
History and ideology
Akali politics in post-colonial India have organized around advancing and protecting Sikh political and cultural interests and Punjabi language. By 1973, the Akali's adopted the Anandpur Sahib Resolution a document which advanced a desire for increasing regional autonomy within India's centralized structure of governance, as well as various socio political conerens. The Akali Dal would launch the "Campaign to Save Democracy". Moreover, the party continues to advocate for the Anandpur Sahib Resolution which proposed several religious, economic and political aims for the state of Punjab. In 2003, the party sided with the Dalit activists protesting against a social-boycott launched by Jatts against them in Talhan village. The party opposes the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal noting the canal violates the state's riparian water rights and will accelerate ongoing desertification. The party has also been critical of extrajudicial killings, torture and genocide of Sikhs by governmental authorities in the 1980-90s. Upon winning the seat in 2022, Simranjit Singh Mann gave credit to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
The Mann family can be paired with the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badal and Majithia families through their association with dynastic politics. Large leaders in the Panthic political sphere are generally sidelined like Daljit Singh Bittu, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, Amritpal Singh Mehron and others. When there was a inter-party debate on who would be the next leader of the party, Simranjit Singh Mann chose his son Emaan Singh Mann over long-time party worker Jaskaran Singh Kahan Singh Wala who was made to leave soon afterwards.
Anandpur Sahib Resolution
In short, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution aimed to: reiterate the separateness of the Sikh tradition from Hinduism; increase the devolution of power from the central government to the states, to provide states with more autonomy; eradicate poverty and starvation through increased production and a more equitable distribution of wealth and also the establishment of a just social order sans exploitation of any kind; remove discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or any other ground; and combat disease and ill health by reducing the use of intoxicants and provision of full facilities for the growth of physical well-being.