Chandigarh, July 18 -- A committee formed by the Akal Takht has invited Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal to take part in the election of office-bearers for the party, to be elected within a month. The rebel faction of the SAD plans to elect 500 delegates, nearly the same number as the delegates of the SAD led by Sukhbir. "We are in the process of finalising the list of members. After that we will announce the delegates, three to four from all 117 assembly constituencies in the state," said Manpreet Singh Ayali, a leader of the rebel faction and one of the five members in the committee constituted by the Akal Takht on December 2 last year, to enrol members for the SAD and hold election of office-bearers. The Akal Takht's December 2, 2024, decree not only awarded tankhah (religious punishment) to Sukhbir and other SAD leaders for mistakes committed by the party and its government from 2007-2017 on the complaint of rebel party leaders, but also directed the SAD working committee to accept his resignation as SAD president, besides constituting a seven-member committee to initiate a recruitment drive and elect new office-bearers in six months. However, the Sukhbir faction initiated a recruitment drive under a SAD working committee, citing legalities. "We have already enrolled 12 lakh members, with an additional 14 lakh pending verification. After this, we will proceed with electing the delegates, who will then vote to elect the party's office-bearers, including the president," Ayali said. The committee has given Sukhbir a one-month window to respond to their invitation and take part in the joint election process involving delegates from both the Akal Takht committee and the SAD's recent reorganisation. The committee's key members include Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Iqbal Singh Jhundan, Bibi Satwant Kaur and Santa Singh Umaidpur. While the Akal Takht committee has extended the invitation, SAD leaders have chosen not to comment until they receive a formal communication. "We have reorganised the party, and Sukhbir Singh Badal was unanimously re-elected as president in April 2023," a senior SAD leader said. "There is no basis for a re-election at this point."...