Rumors of a Reunion in the Badal Family: Speculation Grows as Gidderbaha Bypoll Approaches

This isn’t the first time rumors have surfaced about a reunion within the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) first family since Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD expelled his cousin, former state minister Manpreet Singh Badal, in 2010.

The latest buzz about Manpreet’s possible return to the SAD has been fueled by the upcoming bypoll in Punjab’s Gidderbaha Assembly constituency and the recent exit of Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon from the SAD. Dhillon claimed he was leaving the party due to Manpreet’s expected return and potential candidacy from Gidderbaha.

Gidderbaha, located in Muktsar district, is the Badal family’s home turf and was once a stronghold for family patriarch Parkash Singh Badal. Manpreet himself held the seat from 1995 to 2007.

Dhillon, who ran unsuccessfully in Gidderbaha in 2017 and 2022 on a SAD ticket, cited the party’s “use-and-throw” approach as his reason for leaving and is expected to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Though both Sukhbir and Manpreet have denied these reunion rumors, it’s worth noting that the two haven’t publicly criticized each other in over a year.

Manpreet left SAD in 2011 to form the People’s Party of Punjab, later merging it with Congress in 2016 before joining the BJP in early 2023. Despite these shifts, rumors of Manpreet rejoining the SAD have persisted over the years.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while Manpreet was with Congress, tensions arose when Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring accused him of not fully supporting his campaign against Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Sukhbir’s wife, in Bathinda. Warring even blamed his defeat by nearly 20,000 votes on Manpreet’s lack of assistance.

Tensions flared again in 2022 when Warring accused Manpreet of distributing development grants to SAD leaders in Gidderbaha. Warring’s campaign slogans, such as “Defeat all the Badals,” were aimed at Manpreet, despite them both being in Congress at the time. The 2022 Assembly polls saw a wipeout for the SAD, with both Sukhbir and Manpreet losing their seats, and Warring later “thanked” voters for defeating Manpreet.

On the SAD side, Bathinda Urban candidate Sarup Chand Singla also claimed his third-place finish was due to his party’s internal campaigning against him in favor of Manpreet. Ironically, Singla later joined the BJP alongside Manpreet.

Following Parkash Badal’s death in April 2023, some SAD leaders publicly urged Sukhbir and Manpreet to reconcile. Rumors of a reunion resurfaced when Manpreet was absent from BJP’s Bathinda campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where Harsimrat contested again. Illness kept Manpreet away, but he did attend a few meetings in Ludhiana alongside BJP leaders.

Now, with the Gidderbaha bypoll on the horizon after Warring’s election to the Lok Sabha, speculation about Sukhbir and Manpreet patching things up has returned.

Manpreet dismissed these rumors on Monday, accusing Dhillon of spreading them. He stated, “I am a BJP worker, and the BJP is my home, now and forever.” Sukhbir also denied the rumors and urged Dhillon to reconsider leaving SAD, emphasizing that his commitment to the party is above family ties.

Warring, however, added fuel to the fire by saying, “Dhillon is saying it now, but I have been saying since 2022 that Sukhbir’s and Manpreet’s families are one.”