CHANDIGARH: Former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee (SGPC) president and Ex-Cabinet minister Bibi Jagir Kaur rejoined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday, returning with her supporters at Begowal in Kapurthala district. Significantly, the party looks to bring former leaders back ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
Sukhbir Singh Badal appealed to all Akali leaders who had left the party to rejoin the ‘Panth di jathebandi’ and drive the enemies of the Panth out of Punjab.
Kaur has quit the breakaway SAD (Punar Surjit), led by Giani Harpreet Singh, stating it had failed to achieve its objectives and that strengthening the Akali Dal was the need of the hour.
This is her second return to the Badal-led party in recent years.
She rejoined it in March 2024 before parting ways again. Rebel Akali leaders formally launched SAD (Punar Surjit) in August 2025.
Sukhbir Singh Badal, who visited Begowal and addressed a huge gathering on the occasion, also announced Bibi Jagir Kaur’s appointment as the party’s Halka Incharge from Bholath.
He appealed to the electorate to pledge to make her victorious in the forthcoming assembly elections.
Asserting that Bholath was a panthic constituency and a stronghold of the community (Panth), Badal said it was heartening that Bibi Jagir Kaur had rejoined the SAD along with her entire team.
Speaking about the political situation in the State, Badal said Punjab was in a precarious condition as the drug menace and gangster culture had crossed all boundaries.
“Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and MLAs are providing shelter to drug traffickers after taking monthly payments from them.’’
Asserting that neither Bhagwant Mann, Arvind Kejriwal, nor Rahul Gandhi had any sympathy for them, the Badal said that, in stark contrast that former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had done the utmost for their welfare.
“All social welfare schemes, be it the aata -daal scheme, Shagun scheme, old age pension scheme or the SC scholarship scheme, were started by Badal Sahab”.
He said neither the Congress nor the AAP had done anything for the State. "I challenge both parties to tell one achievement when in power in the State".
He assured that all welfare schemes which had been stopped or diluted by the AAP government would be restarted.
Urging the people to save Punjab by voting out the AAP government, Badal said, “We have to look at the future of our children. We cannot afford to give either AAP or the Congress another chance”.
Badal announced that once the SAD government is formed, Punjab would be rid of all gangsters within three months.
Kaur while speaking on the occasion said all development in Bholath, be it creation of a sub-division or laying out a Rs 72 crore sewerage project, all had occurred during SAD rule.
She also admitted that she had committed mistakes in the past but would now work hard to establish a SAD government in the State under the dynamic leadership of Badal.
Kaur, a former maths teacher, joined the Akali Dal in 1995, won the Bholath Assembly seat in 1997 and served as a minister in the Parkash Singh Badal government.
She became the first woman to head the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in 1999 and was elected its president for a fourth time in November 2020.
She has also led the Akali Dal’s women’s wing.
