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The Akali Dal has its sphere of influence
confined mainly to Punjab. In 1980 it aligned with the Janata Party and lost the
assembly elections to the Congress. Over the next few years the party became
increasingly militant till it lost control of the movement to the more militant
ideologue Jarnail Singh Bindranwale. The Akalis made feeble attempts to keep
away from the separatist militants by sticking to political demands of transfer
of the state capital Chandigarh, river water issues and declaration of Amritsar
as a holy state.
The militant writ ran large till well
after the storming of the Golden Temple. In 1984 the security forces entered the
temple to flush out the militants holed in the temple, the highest seat of
Sikhs. In 1985 Akali Dal chief Sant Harchand Singh Longowal concluded a peace
agreement with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi but was assassinated in August. In
the assembly elections the Akalis returned in the state with an overwhelming
majority. In May 1986 a number of Akali Dal leaders, including Parkash Singh
Badal, withdrew to form a separate party.
In 1994 six factions
of Akalis merged to form the Shiromani Akali Dal. Badal became the state Chief
Minister.
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