CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday said party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was fine and in “high spirits” after a man dressed in ‘Nihang’ attire attacked him with a knife inside a gurdwara in Maharashtra’s Nanded.Badal, the former deputy chief minister of Punjab, was attacked around 1.45 pm with a kirpan (ceremonial dagger worn by Sikhs) while visiting the Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan Ji Mugat, according to Maharashtra Police, according to news agency PTI.Nanded Superintendent of Police Neelabh Rohan stated, “A Nihang (member of a martial order of Sikhs) attacked Badal with a kirpan inside the gurdwara.” The assailant has been taken into custody.Visuals from the scene showed Badal walking inside a building with a cloth wrapped around his right hand. He was rushed to a private hospital for treatment. His wife and Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal were accompanying him at the time of the incident.SAD spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler said the man attempted to attack Badal but was stopped by the security personnel deployed with the SAD chief, who is under Z+ security cover.“Badal sustained a minor injury on his arm and is undergoing treatment at a hospital. He is completely fine and in ‘Chardi Kala’ (high spirits),” Kler said.A local official in Nanded said Badal received two to three stitches on his hand.Kler said Maharashtra Police would investigate the incident and determine whether there was any conspiracy behind the attack.Alleging that ‘panthic leaders’ were being targeted repeatedly, the SAD spokesperson said, “Some ‘panth virodhi’ (anti-panth) forces are hatching such conspiracies.”Strongly condemning the attack, Kler said Badal had survived a previous attack as well and that the Almighty had protected him then and again on Thursday.Senior SAD leader Virsa Singh Valtoha also condemned the incident and demanded a detailed investigation.“There should be a thorough probe. Who are the forces behind such attack…”The Nanded incident marks the second attack on Badal in less than two years.In December 2024, former terrorist Narain Singh Chaura opened fire at Badal from close range outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar but missed his target. He was overpowered by a plainclothes policeman.During the scuffle, the bullet struck the shrine’s entrance wall behind Badal, who escaped unhurt.At the time, Badal was performing the duty of a ‘sewadar’ outside the Golden Temple as part of his penance for the “mistakes” committed by the SAD government in Punjab between 2007 and 2017.The attack was captured on camera by media personnel present at the shrine to cover Badal’s penance. Chaura had walked towards Badal, who was seated in a wheelchair due to a fractured leg, before pulling out a gun from his pocket.
