Master Akali Dal

What it was: The Master Akali Dal, also called the Master Tara Singh Akali Dal, was the section of the Shiromani Akali Dal that stayed with Master Tara Singh after the split of 1962. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism uses "Master Akali Dal" for it and "Sant Akali Dal" for the rival body led by Sant Fateh Singh.

How it began: Master Tara Singh had held the Dal's presidentship since 1930. On 11 March 1956 the Dal accepted the Regional Formula; he doubted it but did not overrule his colleagues, and on 14 June 1958 he revived the demand for a Punjabi-speaking state. In the 1960 morcha he was arrested on the night of 24 to 25 May and Sant Fateh Singh ran the agitation from inside the Golden Temple. Fateh Singh fasted from 18 December 1960 to 9 January 1961. Tara Singh's own fast ran 48 days, from 15 August to 1 October 1961, and on 29 November 1961 the Panj Piare ordered him to do penance for breaking his word.

The rift followed. On 4 July 1962 Tara Singh suspended two of Fateh Singh's supporters, Jivan Singh Umranangal and Lachhman Singh Gill. Fateh Singh called a convention on 22 July at Gurdwara Mushkiana near Mullanpur, where 78 of the 155 SGPC members gathered, and on 18 August 1962 a rival Akali Dal elected him president. On 2 October 1962 the SGPC passed to his group, by 76 votes to 72.

Leaders, in order: Master Tara Singh led it. After the 1965 defeat he withdrew from active politics for about six months and returned on 24 July 1965. In July 1965 the Encyclopaedia names Giani Bhupinder Singh as president of the Master Tara Singh Akali Dal. ThePrint says that Tara Singh ended his opposition to Fateh Singh in 1965. Tara Singh died on 22 November 1967.

Key moments

• July and August 1962: the two Dals form. Both keep Punjabi Suba as their main demand, but the Encyclopaedia says they spent more energy on mutual recrimination.
• 24 December 1962: leaders of both Dals meet at Patiala for a truce during the war with China, then resume their rivalry.
• 17 January 1965: in the SGPC elections the Sant Akali Dal won 90 seats and the Master group 45.
• 4 July 1965: at the Nalva Conference in Ludhiana, Giani Bhupinder Singh seconds a resolution drafted by Kapur Singh asking for a self-determined political status for the Sikhs within India.
• 1967: Wikipedia says the group won two seats in the Punjab Assembly election and backed the Sant group's government.

What came of it: Wikipedia, citing a book by Kuldeep Kaur, says the two groups merged into one Shiromani Akali Dal on 7 October 1968 at Khadur Sahib. We found no better source for that date. The Punjabi state both Dals demanded came into being on 1 November 1966.