Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal injured in attack at Nanded gurudwara

Former Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal hurt in Nanded attack

Shiromani Akali Dal chief and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal sustained injuries in an attack at one of Sikhism's holiest sites in Maharashtra's Nanded on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

The incident occurred at approximately 11am when Badal visited Mata Sahib Gurudwara in the Hazur Sahib complex, one of the five Takhts — supreme seats of temporal authority in Sikhism. The site marks the location where Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, bestowed eternal Guruship upon the Guru Granth Sahib in 1708.

A Nihang — an armed Sikh warrior belonging to a tradition established by Guru Gobind Singh — allegedly attempted to stab Badal with a kirpan, the traditional dagger carried by Nihangs as part of their religious practice. Security personnel intervened, preventing more serious injuries, though Badal sustained wounds to his hand and possibly other areas.

Video footage from the scene showed the Akali Dal leader walking with a saffron cloth wrapped around his right hand. He was immediately transported to a private hospital in Nanded for treatment. Medical officials confirmed his injuries are not life-threatening, and he received stitches on his hand.

Inspector Santosh Kendre, deployed on special security duty, was also injured while attempting to prevent the assault. Maharashtra Police have detained the attacker and launched an investigation.

Badal's wife, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a Member of Parliament and Lok Sabha Leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal, was present during the attack. The couple had visited Takht Sri Hazur Sahib earlier in the day. The sacred site attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees annually from India and abroad and is considered the principal Sikh pilgrimage centre in South India.

Second attack in eight months

This marks the second assassination attempt on Badal in less than a year. On December 4, 2024, he narrowly escaped an attack outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The gunman, Narain Singh Chaura, identified as a Khalistani sympathizer, was quickly overpowered and arrested. Chaura had been involved in the Burail jailbreak case during 2003-2004, when assassins of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh were lodged in the facility. He was later granted bail by an Additional Sessions judge in Amritsar in 2025.

At the time of the Golden Temple attack, Badal was performing sewadar duties as part of a religious punishment pronounced by the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal authority in Sikhism.

Religious penance following controversy

On August 30, 2024, the Akal Takht declared Badal tankhaiya — guilty of religious misconduct — in a unanimous decision by five Sikh high priests for actions taken during the Shiromani Akali Dal government's rule from 2007 to 2017.

On December 2, 2024, the Akal Takht pronounced specific tankhah, directing Badal to serve as a sewadar at the Golden Temple, including cleaning utensils and shoes. The religious body also withdrew the title of Fakhre-e-Qaum (Pride of the Nation) previously bestowed upon his late father, former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Among the controversies leading to the punishment was the SAD government's decision to grant pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case, considered a major religious offense by many Sikhs.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, founded on December 14, 1920, is India's second-oldest political party after the Indian National Congress. It was originally established to guide the Akali movement demanding Sikh control over gurudwaras from British authorities.