BATHINDA, June 14 — In a dramatic political reconciliation, senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab minister Sikander Singh Maluka was re-inducted into the party on Friday, exactly a year after being stripped of his role as disciplinary committee chief. The return was made official by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who posted a public welcome note, signaling a broader strategy to consolidate the party ahead of the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll.
“It gives me immense pleasure to welcome veteran Akali leader S. Sikandar Singh Maluka back to the Shiromani Akali Dal. Maluka Sahab has significantly contributed to strengthening the party under the leadership of S. Parkash Singh Ji Badal,” Sukhbir wrote on X, adding that Maluka would “immediately join the party’s campaign” in Ludhiana West.
Maluka, a key figure in SAD’s Bathinda unit for nearly three decades, had drifted away from the party last year after internal disagreements — particularly over ticket denial to his son, Gurpreet Singh Maluka, during the 2022 Assembly polls. “I had demanded a ticket for my son from Rampura Phul. When it was denied, I insisted the party should deny multiple tickets to others too — except to the Badal family,” Maluka told The Tribune.
Following his fallout with the leadership, Maluka had joined the dissident ‘Sudhar Lehar’ faction. However, that group was dissolved last December at the directive of then Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh. In recent weeks, speculation over Maluka’s return had gained momentum, especially after he was spotted beside Sukhbir Badal at a condolence gathering for former MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in Sangrur.
Speaking on his rejoining, Maluka said, “I had not left the party, but they expelled me and some others. Now, I have come back to my party. I had already told my son and daughter-in-law that I would go back to the SAD, and they had no objection.” When asked whether his family would also follow suit, Maluka added, “I neither asked them, nor did they show any willingness.”
His daughter-in-law, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, a former IAS officer, had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Bathinda as a BJP candidate, facing off against SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal. His son, Gurpreet, a former Bathinda Zila Parishad chairman, had also joined the BJP around that time.
“I was born an Akali and will die as an Akali,” Maluka said, brushing aside his brief stint as a rebel. While no immediate responsibilities have been assigned to him, he suggested more returnees may be on the horizon. “Anything can happen in politics. I have returned, and others may also come back. Politics is done with love.”
With Maluka’s return, SAD appears to be strengthening its traditional cadre base in Punjab’s Malwa belt as it navigates new political terrain shaped by internal rifts, national party incursions, and the upcoming bypolls.
