Bibi Jagir Kaur, former president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the first and only woman to have served as the president of the premier Sikh institution, is slated to make a comeback to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), almost exactly four years after parting ways with the party.
She is slated to return to the SAD at Begowal on November 13, 2026, in the presence of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. The switchback is expected to take place at the dera of Sant Prem Singh Muralewale, where Bibi Jagir Kaur is a primary sewadar.
Confirming the development while speaking to The Tribune, Kaur emphasised that change could be brought about only from “within the Akali Dal” and not from outside. She also said reforms in Punjab were possible only through “working with the Centre”.
Kaur confirmed that she had a telephonic conversation with Sukhbir Badal, who told her that he would visit Begowal on November 13.
Speaking about rejoining the Akali Dal, she stated, “Akali si, Akali hi rahangi (I was always an Akali and will remain one).”
On the Centre’s role, amidst talks of a possible SAD-BJP alliance ahead of the polls, she said, “We have to work in tandem with the Centre. Whether it is Panthic or Punjab-related issues, as long as we do not take them up with the Centre, things will not work. Only being in tune with the BJP may ensure our government. Only under the Centre can we ensure development and our due share. They have promised to eradicate drugs in the state. I hope things will improve under them.”
Asked about her long-standing censure of the SAD’s top leadership and whether things had changed now, Bibi Jagir Kaur said, “Whatever change has to be brought can be brought by being inside the Akali Dal, not from outside. If we stay in the SAD and offer suggestions, change will come.”
On whether she would contest from Bholath, she noted, “Bholath has always been my halka and will remain so.”
On her alleged disillusionment with the Akali Dal (Punar Surjit), she noted, “Je Akali Dal nu doabara surjit karna. Paase ho ke kamm karange, kamyaab nahi hovange. Akali saare leader katthe hon, fer hi lehar banegi (To revive the Akali Dal, if we unite and walk together, we will succeed. Things cannot be done from outside or the sidelines. A movement will be built only if we are together).”
Kaur’s return to the SAD signals a significant churn in the former Panthic bastions of Begowal (in Bholath) and Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala, which had lost their Panthic edge following the Congress swing in subsequent polls.
However, Begowal remains a bastion of Jagir Kaur. Her former bete noire, Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira, is the MLA from Bholath. Khaira and Kaur have recently made peace after she criticised his imprisonment under the AAP government.
She is expected to be the SAD’s contender from Bholath upon her return.
Among Panthic circles, it has long been felt that the SAD’s reassertion of its presence in the former Panthic seats is long overdue. Kaur served as MLA from Bholath in 1997, 2002 and 2012. In 2022, she lost to Khaira.
Kaur has repeatedly expressed the need to reinforce the SAD, in keeping with the original, strong Akali Dal formed in the 1920s.
Bibi Jagir Kaur was expelled from the SAD on November 7, 2022, for anti-party activities after she decided to contest the SGPC presidential poll independently against the party’s official candidate, Harjinder Singh Dhami. At the time, a vocal critic of SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, she was among the leaders openly speaking out against him on several public platforms.
Having enjoyed considerable proximity to leaders of the Akali Dal Punar Surjit, Kaur has lately dropped ample hints about her disillusionment with the fresh SAD faction. She has also repeatedly expressed support for an alliance between the SAD and the BJP in Punjab.
The veteran Sikh leader had also extended support to the BJP ahead of the Jalandhar bypoll in 2023, when she was still estranged from the SAD. She had expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could address simmering Sikh issues where conventional political parties had failed.
