India News | SAD Announces Incumbent HS Dhami as Nominee for SGPC Chief Post for Nov 9 Poll

Chandigarh, Nov 4 (PTI) The SAD on Friday announced incumbent Harjinder Singh Dhami as its candidate for the SGPC president for which the election will take place on November 9.

The Shiromani Akali Dal's move came after former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur refused to back down from contesting the apex gurdwara body presidential poll.

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The SAD's decision to announce its candidate is also a marked departure from the practice of declaring its nominee on the day of the poll.

SAD senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Friday announced the party's decision to name Dhami again for the post of president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

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“SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal after wider consultations with SGPC members & senior leaders of the party announced that Harjinder Singh Dhami will be SAD's candidate for the post of President for the Nov 9 annual election of SGPC,” said Cheema in a tweet.

After Jagir Kaur dug her heels in for contesting the SGPC president poll, the SAD on Wednesday had suspended her from the party.

The party had also issued a two-day ultimatum to her to stop “anti-party” activities, failing which, it said, strict disciplinary action would be taken against her.

Kaur, once considered a loyalist of the Badal family, had been pressing to be the party's nominee for the SGPC presidential poll. She had earlier even met Badal to stake claim for the top SGPC post.

Dhami is currently the SGPC chief.

The SGPC has an annual budget of nearly Rs 1,000 crore. It manages gurdwaras, besides running hospitals and educational institutions.

The SAD earlier had slammed National Commission for Minorities Chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura for allegedly seeking support for the candidature of Jagir Kaur for the forthcoming polls while accusing him of trying to break the SGPC.

Meanwhile, Dhami on Friday in Amritsar alleged that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were making “mischievous attempts” to take control of the SGPC, the representative organisation of Sikhs.

He said Lalpura, working under the BJP's policy of controlling the SGPC, is asking the members of Sikh body to vote against the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate in the upcoming annual election of Sikh body on November 9.

He alleged, “Big temptations are being given to buy votes of SGPC members by leaders who joined the BJP from different parties.”

Dhami claimed several SGPC members have disclosed this fact to him.

He said the Congress party had been interfering in Sikh affairs for a long time and now, the BJP is also following the same path.

Dhami thanked SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and the entire party leadership for announcing him the candidate for the SGPC post.

He also appealed to Bibi Jagir Kaur that she is highly respectable and she should walk together to strengthen the Shiromani Akali Dal and SGPC as she did earlier.

Jagir Kaur, a former MLA, had remained SGPC chief in 1999, 2004 and 2020.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)