DSGMC freed from shackles of Badals: Ex-gurdwara body chief

SAD (Delhi) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said both the SAD and the Congress played politics over the sacrilege incident and paid the price for it as the people of the state completely rejected them

Former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president and current SAD (Delhi) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said the Punjab assembly poll verdict has freed the DSGMC from the shackles of former chief minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal and his family.

SAD (Delhi) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna was in Ludhiana on Saturday to attend a seminar on Sikh scholars at Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women. (Twitter)

Sarna was in Ludhiana on Saturday to attend a seminar on Sikh scholars at Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women.

Speaking on the sidelines of the seminar, Sarna said the era of Badals has ended. “It is the right time that they (Badals) should hand over the reins of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to someone else, who could take the party forward.”

While congratulating chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for receiving a massive mandate, Sarna said both the SAD and the Congress played politics over the sacrilege incident and paid the price for it as the people of the state completely rejected them.

He said that the newly formed government should send the culprits of sacrilege incidents behind bars within six months and strict action be taken against those involved in the drug trade.

Former deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh urged the Sikh community to bury their petty differences and unite at a common platform to get their rights from the government.

The DSGMC was the last fort which the Badals had conquered in January 2013 after defeating its then president Sarna and establishing their complete hegemony over Sikh political and religious affairs.

While DSGMC president Harmeet Singh Kalka and other committee members announced to form Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Delhi State), other two groups in the gurdwara body— Paramjit Singh Sarna led-SAD (Delhi) and Manjit Singh GK-led JAGO — also got themselves registered under the Societies Registration Act.