E-Paper
HSGMC polls: 165 candidates in fray; only 7 are women
Ravinder Kaur Ajrana, who is the junior vice-president of the outgoing ad-hoc committee under president Bhupinder Singh Assandh, is contesting as an independent from ward 15 (Thanesar) in Kurukshetra district
Only seven women of the total 165 candidates, which is just 4%, are in the fray for the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) elections set to be held on January 19.
Despite being formed in 2014 by the then Congress government to have a separate functional body from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), this will be the first election for the gurdwara body after a decade.
Ravinder Kaur Ajrana, who is the junior vice-president of the outgoing ad-hoc committee under president Bhupinder Singh Assandh, is contesting as an independent from ward 15 (Thanesar) in Kurukshetra district. She is the wife of BJP leader Kawaljeet Singh Ajrana, who had to back out as the saffron party candidate from Pehowa assembly constituency after facing a rebellion within the party unit and protests from the Sikh community. A former state president of SAD’s women’s wing, she is one of the strong contenders for the gurdwara body.
Similarly, Kapur Kaur is the candidate of Panthak Dal (Jhinda) from ward 16 (Nilokheri) of Karnal. She is the mother of Bhupinder Singh Laddi, a prominent Sikh face, whose family has been associated with the panchayats.
Haryana Sikh Panthak Dal’s Jasbir Kaur Masana is another woman candidate of a mainstream group contesting from ward 14 (Ladwa), while Sikh Samaj Sanstha has also given an opportunity to Amanpreet Kaur from ward 33 (Sirsa).
Independent candidates Parminder Kaur (ward 24 Jind), Amanpreet Kaur (ward 25 Tohana) and Gaganpreet Kaur (ward 39 Gurugram) are also testing waters in the polls taking place for the first time.
Amanpreet is the sole candidate from her ward and will likely be declared the winner uncontested, while Hisar district (ward 29), which has been declared as a single ward, will choose from eight candidates, the highest in any ward.
Sikh voters spread across 40 wards in the state will elect 40 members after which, the majority winning group will nominate nine members. These 49 members will further choose a president and the executive body of the HSGMC.
Most of the candidates with affiliations to three major groups— two under former presidents Jagdish Singh Jhinda’s Panthak Dal (Jhinda) and Didar Singh Nalvi’s Sikh Samaj Sanstha, as well as SAD-affiliated Haryana Sikh Panthic Dal (HSPD)— are contesting the elections.
Candidates with another group under former president Baljit Singh Daduwal with backing from outgoing president Bhupinder Singh Assandh, are fighting, but as independents.
Daduwal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Azad was denied the election symbol by the commissioner of Gurdwara Elections in Haryana due to its resemblance with the Punjab political party.
Prominent faces
Former Haryana gurdwara body president Jagdish Singh Jhinda will face three independents from ward 18 (Assandh) of Karnal district, while his successor in the HSGMC, Daduwal is fighting as an independent from ward 35 (Kalanwali) in Sirsa district.
Daduwal is currently the chairman of the Dharma Prachar committee of the HSGMC ad-hoc panel.
Another former president, Didar Singh Nalvi, will try his fate from ward 6 (Shahbad) in Kurukshetra. HSPD leader Baldev Singh is contesting from ward 10 (Bilaspur) in Yamunanagar.
Meanwhile, Haryana Sikh Ekta Dal, a non-political Sikh rights group, has decided to support Punjab Singh Nissing (ward 17).
Dal’s member Pritpal Singh Pannu said his group will also support Balkar Singh from ward 18 (Assandh), who is fighting against Jhinda, and several others in most of the wards of the state. Officials said a list and number of polling stations will be finalised only after the process of voter registration ends on January 10.
