Bibi Jagir Kaur rejoins Shiromani Akali Dal as party regroups for Punjab polls

Former Punjab minister Bibi Jagir Kaur rejoined the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday, returning with her supporters at Begowal in Kapurthala district as the party looks to bring former leaders back ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.Kaur quit the breakaway SAD (Punar Surjit), led by Giani Harpreet Singh, saying 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.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.Ahead of Kaur’s return, Harpreet Singh said his party would never compromise with those he called “deserters” of the Akal Takht, in an apparent swipe at Badal and other SAD leaders. He also said his faction had “never spoken” of an alliance with the BJP. The Badal-led SAD, meanwhile, is in talks with the BJP over seat-sharing for the 2027 polls, sources told PTI on Saturday.Sources in both parties said a formal announcement was expected later this month once they agreed on the seats. Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil, the BJP’s Punjab election in-charge, is expected to meet state party leaders in Chandigarh on November 17.- Ends