Targeted Hits On Sukhbir Badal Expose Simmering Discontent In Punjab Ahead Of Polls

Two brutal attacks hint that the unresolved sacrilege cases have not only made Sukhbir Badal a recurring target of radical anger but have also given radical elements and Khalistanis a potent weapon.

14 Aug 2026, 10:14 · NDTV

Scrutinising the two brutal attacks on Shiromani Akali Dal chief and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal reveals that in both cases the attackers tried to deliver vigilante justice.

Given the radical religious ideology, both incidents share strikingly structural and psychological similarities that echo historic patterns of political vigilantism on Punjab's radical fringe.

Both attackers avoided striking Badal at a rally, or his residence but deliberately selected highly symbolic Sikh shrines: the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) in Amritsar, the faith's supreme spiritual centre, and Hazur Sahib in Nanded, one of the five Takhts. Their aim was not just physical harm but humiliation staged before the devotees.

The attacks came at a time when Shiromani Akali Dal was out of power.

While the first attacker, Narain Singh Chaura, is a former member of the banned Khalistani outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), the Nanded attacker being interrogated by the agencies is a hardliner Nihang Sikh, a martial Sikh sect.

The targeted hits shine a light on the simmering resentment among a section of society unhappy with investigations into the sacrilege cases.

The radical elements seem to have significantly rejected both the institutional and religious absolution. These elements allege that the hearing of the 2015 Bargari sacrilege cases was moving slowly and that the Akal Takht's religious punishment to Badal was too 'lenient'. While the first attack occurred on December 4, 2024, the second occurred as Punjab is headed toward the 2027 assembly elections, while the BJP-SAD are trying to get back together.

Two brutal attacks hint that the unresolved sacrilege cases have not only made Sukhbir Badal a recurring target of radical anger but have also given radical elements and Khalistanis a potent weapon. By repeatedly invoking Bargari and Behbal Kalan, these groups have sought to inflame emotions and justify acts of violence under the banner of panthic retribution.

Meanwhile, the ruling AAP and Congress are trying to politicise these incidents, squarely blaming the Shiromani Akali Dal for failing to protect the religious interests of the people of Punjab despite calling itself a Panthic party.

While opposition leaders condemned the violence, leaders from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress framed the incident as the product of lingering public anger over the 2015 events.

"The Akali Dal has always formed governments in the name of the Panth (religion), yet during its own rule, desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji took place. When people protested against this, bullets were fired at them, resulting in the deaths of two innocent persons. That anger in the minds of Sikhs persists to this day," AAP spokesperson Baltej Pannu said.

Adding fuel to the fire, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said: "The attack cannot be justified under any circumstances, but the Badal family must now change its attitude. Despite receiving lessons from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Sri Akal Takht Sahib, if there is still no change in conduct, resentment among Sikhs is natural. The Akali Dal leadership must respect religious institutions and the sentiments of the Sikh community."

Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring too echoed the sentiment, attributing the incident to the anger among Sikh devotees.

"There is genuine anger among the Sikh sangat (Sikh devotees) regarding Behbal Kalan, the Bargari sacrilege, police firing, delayed justice in these sacrilege cases, and several other unresolved issues. There is also deep disappointment with how the Akali Dal handled these matters," Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said in a statement.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, by contrast, has cast the episode as part of a larger conspiracy. Spokesperson and Senior General Secretary Dr Daljit Cheema, while condemning the statements of AAP and Congress leaders, said that instead of expressing concern, they wanted to burn Punjab.

"Congress President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and AAP Spokesperson Baltej Singh Pannu did not even utter a single word of sympathy. They are trying to give the incident a new colour and narrative, suggesting that it happened due to sacrilege. The incident took place in Nanded, and AAP is making comments as if they want to burn Punjab. What do you want to do? Just look at their background, 26 of our candidates were murdered when Punjab was disturbed. The AAP and Congress should tell what their relationship was with this incident," Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said.

Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia also said that the Nanded incident was not ordinary and was the second life-threatening attack on Sukhbir Singh Badal within a gurudwara complex.

"An attempt was made to take his life. A high-level CBI inquiry must be conducted to uncover the truth behind whichever anti-national or 'anti-Panthic' forces are behind this. Certain elements want to spoil Punjab's peaceful environment once again," he said.

This narrative tug-of-war explains why SAD continues to struggle to pivot away from 2015. Every physical assault or controversy pulls the political discourse back to the sacrilege cases. While the party tries to convert the attacks into a source of sympathy among traditional voters, its opponents consistently use the same incidents to keep the memory of those years alive. The attacks on Badal also hint that the radical elements , who have now entered the election arena, want to keep the sacrilege issues alive so that the same can be exploited in the 2027 assembly elections.

Sukhbir Singh Badal: Power, Controversies and Political Isolation

Sukhbir Singh Badal was born on 9 July 1962 in Faridkot, Punjab, into one of the state's most prominent political families. He is the son of the late Parkash Singh Badal, five-time Chief Minister of Punjab, and the late Surinder Kaur Badal. He is married to Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Member of Parliament from Bathinda and former Union Cabinet Minister. The couple has three children: daughters Harkirat Kaur and Gurleen Kaur, and son Anantveer Singh.

Sukhbir's mother Surinder Kaur Badal died on 24 May 2011 after a prolonged battle with cancer. His father, Parkash Singh Badal, died on 25 April 2023 at the age of 95. His grandfather, Raghuraj Singh Badal, was a wealthy landlord and agriculturist who also paved the way for the family's transport businesses.

Badal received his early education at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Kasauli, in Himachal Pradesh. He later earned a Master's degree in Economics from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and an MBA from California State University, Los Angeles.

Sukhbir entered electoral politics in the mid-1990s and was elected to the Lok Sabha three times from Faridkot in 1996, 1998 and 1999. During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, he served as Union Minister of State for Industry between 1998 and 1999. He later represented the Firozpur constituency. He has also been elected three times as MLA from the Jalalabad Assembly constituency.

Sukhbir Singh Badal became the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal in January 2008. However, in November 2024,he resigned as party chief after the Akal Takht declared him tankhaiya. The party's working committee formally accepted the resignation in January 2025. Following the completion of his religious punishment, he returned to the post and was unanimously re-elected on 12 April 2025 at a general delegate meeting held at Teja Singh Samundri Hall in Amritsar.

Badal also served two consecutive terms as Deputy Chief Minister from 2009 to 2017, holding key portfolios including Home Affairs and major infrastructure projects. Since 2008, he has remained chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal and the party's principal strategist.

His political career was marred by major controversies. The 2015 Bargari sacrilege incidents and the subsequent police firings at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura during the SAD-BJP government became the most damaging episode of his tenure.

Sukhbir's woes intensified after the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, when he, his father, the late Parkash Singh Badal, and relative, Bikram Singh Majithia, all suffered personal electoral defeats, marking a sharp decline in the family's political dominance.

Parkash Singh Badal's death also came as a major shock to the family, as he had long shielded the party and its leadership. Combined with the unresolved baggage of the 2015 sacrilege cases and the party's diminished panthic credibility, these setbacks have left Sukhbir increasingly isolated, both politically and symbolically.

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