E-Paper
Gurdwara elections body likely to hold SGPC polls in June
The Gurdwara Elections Commission has set April 16 as the date for finalising the electoral rolls, after which it would write to the union ministry for home to announce the election.
The polls to elect a new general house for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are expected to take place in June. The Gurdwara Elections Commission has set April 16 as the date for finalising the electoral rolls, after which it would write to the union ministry for home to announce the election.
“Our preparations are almost over. Once the electoral rolls are finalised, we would submit to the ministry of home affairs for further action, which is announcement of the polls,” said a functionary of the gurdwara election commission that oversees the conduct of the polls, on anonymity.
Last time the election took place in 2011. However, the elected House became functional in 2016 after a case filed by the sehajdhari Sikhs in the Supreme Court was decided. The sehajdharis had moved the apex court challenging the decision of the ministry of home affairs denying them the right to vote.
The case was decided after the home ministry filed an undertaking in the SC that the All India Gurdwara Act 1925 had been amended, revoking sehajdharis’ right to vote.
In 2016, Kirpal Singh Badungar became the SGPC president, replacing Avtar Singh Makkar. After that, from 2017 to 2019, Gobind Singh Longowal remained head of the gurdwara body.
After Longowal, in 2020, Bibi Jagir Kaur was elected head of the Sikhs’ institution for a year and in 2021, Harjinder Singh Dhami was elected as president who continues to head the body and was re-elected in the annual election of office bearers held in 2024.
Date of filing of objections extended
The gurdwara commission has extended the last date for filing objection to March 10, after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) challenged large-scale bogus and duplication of voters in the electoral rolls. A SAD delegation last week had met justice SS Saron (retd), commissioner gurdwara elections, last week who extended the last date for filing objections from January 24 to March 10.
SAD had alleged that a large number of non-Sikhs have been included in the electoral list. The final electoral rolls would be made public on April 16, announced a functionary of the gurdwara commission on the request of anonymity. In the earlier list, a total of 50 lakh voters were registered for the polls, which is now being appended.
Who can vote
As per All-India Gurdwara Act 1925, a Sikh with unshorn hair can be a voter in the SGPC election and an amritdhari (baptised) Sikh can contest the election.
No clarity on number of constituencies
There is no clarity on the number of constituencies that would go to polls when the elections are declared as a separate gurdwara body (Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee) has been carved out of SGPC, which is in the process of electing the office bearers. The HSGMC elections for over 40 constituencies were held on January 19.
“We have no clarity about how many constituencies will be constituted for the SGPC polls, particularly when a separate gurdwara body is in existence in Haryana,” asked SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Mannan. The gurdwara election body hasn’t ruled on the matter yet.
The last SGPC elections were held in 170 constituencies, which included 157 in Punjab, 11 in Haryana, and one each in Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh. Apart from it, 15 members are co-opted, with four from Punjab, three from Delhi, two each from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and one each from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. Six members of the clergy are ex-officio members.
