CHANDIGARH, Punjab—Advocate HS Phoolka, who heads the Dakha constituency in the Punjab assembly, today moved a resolution in the Punjab assembly seeking election of the supreme Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee which is due since December-2016. His resolution got passed by the assembly as the Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh favored the need for SGPC elections.
However, the Akali legislators were seen upset over the passing of this resolution. They staged walkout in protest of this resolution.
When the resolution was under consideration in the assembly session, Akali MLA NK Sharma termed the AAP as a “B-Team” of Congress. He asked the Punjab assembly speaker to clarify the status of HS Phoolka in the Punjab assembly as he had resigned in October last year.
In this situation, the Congress legislators openly backed HS Phoolka. Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said that HS Phoolka will be remembered for his good deeds by the Sikh community till the existence of this world.
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh said that he would approach the Union Home Ministry so that the SGPC elections could be held at the earliest.
Reacting to the move, Akali legislator Bikram Majithia said that the Punjab government doesn’t possess any right to pass a resolution seeking SGPC elections.
It is pertinent to note here that the SGPC elections can’t be held at present because the post of Chief Election Commissioner is lying vacant in the Gurdwara Election Commission. Even if the Indian government appoints the Chief Election Commissioner, it will still require a lot of time because of the following two reasons:
- The new Election Commissioner would have to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision about the legitimacy of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee as the SGPC member from Kurkshetra had moved a petition challenging the legitimacy of HSGPC constituted by the Haryana government.
- As the BJP led Union government of India had abolished the voting right of Sehajdharis in SGPC elections, so the Gurdwara Election Commission will have to prepare voter lists of Gursikh voters in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, which is a long process.
On August 2, the Indian Home Ministry had appointed Justice (Retd.) Darshan Singh as Chief Election Commissioner of the Gurdwara Election Commission and had directed him to begin work for SGPC elections in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Later, Justice Darshan Singh had refused to take the charge as he was appointed as the Chairman of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in Haryana.
