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Chief Khalsa Diwan elections today: Nijjar, Pal locked in tough fight for top post
The 120-year-old Sikh organisation runs over 50 institutions in the fields of education, social welfare, health and religious preaching across the state
With the general house of the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) set to go the polls on Sunday, retired IRS officer Surinderjit Singh Pal is likely to give a tough fight to incumbent chief and former cabinet minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar for the top post of the 120-year-old Sikh organisation that runs over 50 institutions in the fields of education, social welfare, health and religious preaching across the state.
Both groups made last-ditch efforts on Saturday to woo the 491 members of the organisation. Amritsar has nearly 250 members while Tarn Taran and Ludhiana districts also have sizeable strength.
The administration has appointed a tehsildar, an IPS and a PCS rank officer to act as observers during the elections to be held at the headquarters of the organisation through secret ballot.
Dr Nijjar-led group has fielded Santokh Singh Sethi and Jagjit Singh for the posts of vice-presidents, while Sawinder Singh Kathunangal and Ajit Singh Basra will fight it out for the post of honourary secretary. Kuljit Singh Sahni is a contestant for the post of resident president from this group.
From the Pal faction, Sarabjit Singh and Amarjit Singh Vikrant are the candidates for the posts of vice-presidents, while Sukhdev Singh Mattewal is the candidate for resident president post. Jaswinder Singh Dhillon and Ramneek Singh are candidates for the two posts of honorary secretaries.
A section of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership is extending support to the Pal group instead of its own MLA. AAP MLA from Amritsar East Jivan Jyot Kaur was present at the meeting hosted by Pal group.
The CKD office-bearers’ election is held every five years.
During the byelection held in 2022, 329 members cast their votes.
