"Muslims Are About 18%, We Are Only 2% But...": Sukhbir Singh Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, in his sharpest attack on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said this evening that he doesn't consider him a Sikh as he "does not know the history of Sikhs".

"I do not consider him (Bhagwant Mann) a Sikh. He wears a turban to show that he is a Sikh. He does not know the history of Sikhs. We feel sad when we see him and hear his statements," he said during a meeting with Sikh groups in Delhi.

He also drew a comparison between Muslim and Sikh leaderships vis-a-vis their populations.

"The population of Muslims in the country is about 18 per cent but they have no leadership because they are not united. We are 2 per cent but we are united under Sri Akal Takht Sahib," he said.

Mr Badal also claimed the Punjab government is being run by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal. "They (AAP) are looting Punjab and Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Punjab, not Bhagwant Mann," the Akali leader said.

The AAP stormed to power in Punjab with a landslide victory in the 2022 state polls, bagging 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly and trouncing the Congress that managed to win 18 seats.

The 61-year-old leader today met the members of the Sikh Sangat of Sri Patna Sahib (Bihar) and Mumbai (Maharashtra) at the party's Delhi State unit president S Paramjit Singh Sarna's residence. He announced that "Shiromani Akali Dal will establish party units in all States having Sikh population".

He urged the community to stay united: "I appeal to all of you not to be divided and remain united...Shiromani Akali Dal will establish party units in all the states..."

The meeting also witnessed veteran Akali leader S Manjit Singh GK rejoining the Shiromani Akali Dal along with his entire Jago party team. "I am sure this unity will not only strengthen the Sikh community, but pave the way for resolution of all our pending demands," said Mr Badal.

"This is part of a process to effect Panthic unity in the Sikh quom. The community is facing various challenges and the resolution of all can only be achieved we all get united under the flag of the Panth - that of the Shiromani Akali Dal," he added.

Earlier this month, he had appealed to dissident Akali leaders to shun their differences to come under one flag.

"Those who have 'Panthic' thinking, who have Shiromani Akali Dal in their hearts and blood, Shiromani Akali Dal is only one and those factions which want to divide, I want to tell them that there is a strength in unity," he said while addressing a gathering at gurdwara Shaheed Baba Gurbaksh Singh at the Akal Takht in Amritsar.