Giani Harpreet Singh, the president of the breakaway faction of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), on Thursday threatened to launch an agitation if the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections weren’t called soon.
The breakaway group, named as the SAD (Punarsurjit), also decided to contest the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in the state, which Giani Harpeet described as a “collective decision”.
Commenting on the SGPC polls, he said, “The delay is due to the collusion between the Centre and the Akali faction that holds the control over the SGPC.”
“One member of the SGPC, who is also a Haryana Sikh body member, had filed a writ petition in the court, thereby posing a obstacle in conducting the elections at the behest of the SAD (Badal), which never wanted to lose its control over the SGPC,” he alleged.
He said if need be, his group would approach the Centre and won’t hesitate to agitate if the SGPC elections were not announce soon.“We will initiate the protest from the Akal Takht,” he said.
The elections to the SGPC are supposed to be held every five years.
However, due to an extended litigation over multiple issues, these have not been held since 2011.
The members elected in 2011 continue to hold their posts till this day.
At present, the SAD (Badal) controls the apex gurdwara body, being headed by Harjinder Singh Dhami for the fifth consecutive year