CHANDIGARH, Punjab—Bhai Baljit Singh Daduwal, the Sarbat Khalsa appointed Jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, was elected as a president of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee. He defeated his rival Jasbir Singh Khalsa by 2 votes, while securing 19 out of the total 36 votes.
The polling rate remained 100% in this election as 36 out of the 36 members cast votes for the election of their new president. The HSGPC has total 41 members out of which 2 have resigned while 3 others have expired.
Speaking with Sikh24 after his election as the president, Bhai Daduwal said that he is ready to quit his responsibility of heading Takht Sri Damdama Sahib. “I rather look after the proceedings of petition challenging legitimacy of HSGPC in Supreme Court,” he said.
It may be recalled here that Jagdish Singh Jhinda, the first president of HSGPC, had resigned in December last year citing poor health.
The HSGPC was constituted by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda led Congress government of Haryana on July 11, 2014. Before the constitution of the HSGPC, all Gurdwaras and SGPC institutions in the state were under control of SGPC, which has headquarters in Sri Amritsar Sahib. The SGPC claimed that the formation of HSGPC was unconstitutional, as per the All India Gurdwara Act of 1925.
The SGPC has since challenged the HSGPC’s existence by moving a petition in the apex court of India. The SGPC had also refused to return keys to various Gurdwaras in Haryana, to the HSGPC, even though it was given legal status by the Haryana government.
Meanwhile, senior SAD (Democratic) leader Bhai Mohkam Singh has said that Daduwal has registered victory over SAD (Badal). “By winning the presidency election of HSGPC, Daduwal has registered victory in semi-final for SGPC’s elections,” he added.
