Chandigarh: One family, one ticket, one election, at least 50 per cent tickets for Vidhan Sabha polls to women and other leaders below the age of 50 years, no chairperson posts in boards and corporations to the kin of party MPs and MLAs, and a break of one term for party president holding office for two consecutive terms are among some of the sweeping organisational reforms that the Shiromani Akali Dal announced. The new measures, however, would come into affect only when the SAD constitution is formally amended.
“This is the first lot of changes being affected in the party, which has always stood for Punjab, Punjabis, Punjabiyat and Panth (the Sikh community); batted for more autonomy for the states, and ensured communal harmony, irrespective of the fact whether it was in power or not,” party president Sukhbir Badal said while announcing the 13 “ground breaking reforms”.
He said more changes will be announced to revive the party, which has taken a hit due to “false propaganda” by the opponents. Badal said SAD was “not the personal property” of anyone as has been “falsely projected”. The remarks come amid rumblings within the SAD against his leadership in particular and his family’s control over the party in general.
He said now the Akali Dal president would be eligible to hold office for two terms of five years each, and then take a break of one term. “This will lead to induction of fresh leadership at the very top,” he added.
