The general elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) would be a litmus test for the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that has long held sway over the committee’s affairs.

Chief Election Commissioner of the Gurdwara Elections Justice SS Saron (retd) has directed the administrative authorities concerned to initiate preparations for holding fresh SGPC polls.

Political experts believe that SAD has been decimated in the state and the Centre alike; and fissures in the party further dent its armour on the Panthic platform too.

SAD had survived a scare in the 2022 annual elections of the Sikh body’s office-bearers by managing to have its candidate Harjinder Singh Dhami re-elected to president’s post. However, the fight put up by its ousted leader Jagir Kaur and the division of votes remain a matter of great concern for the party.