Badal's mortal remains were taken to the family's farmland, around a kilometer from his residence, on a flower-decked tractor-trolley with his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and other family members standing with folded hands as the vehicle moved past the mourners on the route.
The Punjab government has declared a holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister.
Five-time former Punjab chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali over a week ago, died on Tuesday. He was 95.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, alleging a decline in law and order and accusing them of using financial schemes to sway voters ahead of elections.
Pronouncing 'tankhah' (religious punishment) for Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders for the 'mistakes' committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, the Sikh clergy at the Akal Takht on Monday directed the senior Akali leader to perform as a 'sewadar', and wash dishes and clean shoes at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The 62-year-old former deputy chief minister was first elected the party president in 2008. His re-election at the outfit's general delegate session in Amritsar comes barely four months after he quit after he was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government from 2007 to 2017.
It will be for the first time in three decades that the Badal family will have no representation in the 117-member Punjab assembly.
'Mr Badal wanted to talk to a member of the Gandhi family to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Akalis and the Congress which were the two major parties at that time.'
Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal (94) became the country's oldest candidate to fight elections as he filed his nomination papers from Lambi on Monday.
Often credited with his party's victory in the 2012 assembly polls, now 59, he became the youngest chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal, when he was elevated to the post in 2008.
Panthic politics came easily to Parkash Singh Badal. But he was quick to abandon it when it became a problem, points out Aditi Phadnis.
The Centre's move on Chandigarh has raised the hackles of various parties in Punjab, with Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal terming it as a "direct attack" on Punjab's identity and constitutional rights.
Kumar has denied arranging any meeting between former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head.
For Sikhs, they say, honour is the bottom line; and whatever the state of the SAD's political fortunes today, arrogance will not be helpful in the negotiation.
Cricketer-turned-Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday said despite being part of ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance in Punjab, he feels he is in the opposition as several developmental works in his constituency have been stalled.
Former Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jarnail Singh passed away in New Delhi on Friday due to COVID-related complications, his family said. He was 48.
Among these are Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes, and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who beat Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in his traditional Lambi seat by 11,396 votes.
'The Badals have made the Akali Dal a family enterprise and undermined the Sikh faith. They have no right to call themselves Akalis. We have approached the Election Commission to register ourselves as the Akali Dal with a different nomenclature. We will impress on people's minds that we are the real Akali Dal' Sai Manish reports on the fight for supremacy over the Akali Dal.
Sidhu attacked the Aam Aadmi Party, alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi had last year notified one of the farm laws even when farmers were sitting at the borders of national capital protesting against the legislations.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.
A social activist, a young law graduate, a debutante, and an eye surgeon -- Punjab polls gave gave birth to a number of giant killers from the Aam Aadmi Party, who drubbed such stalwarts as Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Badals, and even Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
With the counting for the high-stakes assembly elections is on in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, here's a look at some of the big names and where they stand.
Here are some day's snippets of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections:
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded two Congress turncoats and its former Union minister Vijay Sampla for next month's Punjab assembly polls as it released its second list of 27 candidates on Thursday.
Manohar Lal Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on Sunday and will lead the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party coalition government in the state. JJP leader Dushyant Chautala took oath as the deputy chief minister.
Amarinder, 75, was sworn in as the state's 26th chief minister along with nine ministers, including Navjot Singh Sidhu.
When asked if he would be the CM candidate, Amarinder said, "I don't know, that is Congress president's decision."
Strains in relations between the SAD and the BJP had begun surfacing for over a year.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who was under fire from Bharatiya Janata Party leaders after the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership, including Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal campaigned against the saffron party nominees during the assembly elections attended the oath-taking ceremony of Manohar Lal Khattar in Panchkula on Sunday.
"He has said that he wants to serve Punjab and there is no choice except serving from Aam Aadmi Party," she said.
Even as Sidhu parries queries on whether he would join the AAP, dissent is brewing in Arvind Kejriwal's party.
Amid a plethora of Bharatiya Janata Party bigwigs, Manohar Lal Khattar and his council of ministers took the oath of office at Panchkula on Sunday.
Jailed Indian National Lok Dal leader Ajay Chautala's elder son Dushyant figured in the list of candidates declared by the party for all the ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.
The AAP bagged 20 seats in Punjab while losing all seats in Goa
Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress won one seat each in the bypolls to Patiala (urban) and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats on Monday but the Aam Aadmi Party finished a poor third.
A galaxy of top leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present with Shah.
'The distrust of traditional political parties in Punjab is an advantage for AAP.'
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Leaders from all political parties welcomed the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Lunch with BS: Sukhbir Singh Badal, deputy chief minister, Punjab
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances