Assembly polls:HSGMC pledges support to Congress
The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC, ad hoc) on Tuesday passed a resolution to support the Congress in the upcoming assembly polls, without making any demand for the allotment of seats to its members.
The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC, ad hoc) on Tuesday passed a resolution to support the Congress in the upcoming assembly polls, without making any demand for the allotment of seats to its members.
After the emergency meeting of the executive body, held at Dera Baba Charan Singh Kar Sewa here in the afternoon, HSGMC senior vice-president Didar Singh Nalwi said the prevalent political situation had driven the religious body to take a decision in this regard.
“Except the Congress, which had formed the HSGMC, leaders of various major political parties have raised their voice against the panel. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which has a political tie-up with Punjab’s ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has gone to the extent of saying that it would dissolve the HSGMC, if voted to power. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership also has a similar stand as it has an alliance with the Akalis in Punjab and the INLD is its old political ally,” said Nalwi.
He added that they had decided to support the Congress to ensure the survival of the HSGMC, which was formed to meet a long-pending demand of Haryana Sikhs to have an independent body to manage gurdwaras of the state.
Nalwi said the HSGMC would make all-out efforts to ensure the victory of Congress candidates from 30-odd assembly seats dominated by Sikhs.
“It is vital to support the Congress and ensure its victory so as to keep at bay political parties opposing the HSGMC’s formation on flimsy grounds,” he said.
At the emergency meeting, which was attended by 29 of the 41 members, HSGMC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda was authorised to pursue a legal battle in the Punjab and Haryana high court, where a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab) had challenged the HSGMC’s formation.
The panel also passed a resolution to condemn the recent arrest of HSGMC’s executive body member Baljit Singh Daduwal.
“The Punjab government is harassing Daduwal since he was instrumental in taking control of a gurdwara at Guhla-Cheeka in Kaithal district from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC),” he said.
The Punjab police are reopening various pending cases against controversial radical Sikh preacher Daduwal, who was arrested by the Faridkot police last week.
Spokesmen appointed
The HSGMC on Tuesday authorised Jhinda, Nalwi and general secretary Joga Singh to make any official statement on behalf of the panel.
The decision was taken a day after an HSGMC executive member from Karnal, Amrinder Singh Arora, had demanded that the Congress must give at least 15 seats to Sikh leaders of the panel.
Maintaining distance from Arora’s media statement, Nalwi said the executive body had no such demand and would ensure full support to the Congress for the best interests of the HSGMC.