Will Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections be postponed again?
16 Nov 2012 1:28 AM GMT
With Gurdwara elections scheduled to be held before 31 December this year, tension is spilling on to the streets, raising many eyebrows.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections was initially scheduled for February 2011 and was postponed. But sources said that it is likely to be rescheduled again, and will held after the forthcoming Assembly elections slated for next year.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed to conduct election before 31 December as it was pending for a long time. However, the move for the postponement of elections has already been set in motion with the proposal to amend the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act.
If sources is to believe, there would be no problem in bypassing the court directive on the plea of amendment to the Act, as it would have to be adopted in the Assembly and would become operative after the notification is issued following the due process.
The proposed amendment is for direct election of the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee by the voters instead by elected members.
When contacted to Delhi Minister of Gurdwara Elections and Gurdwara Administration Arvinder Singh Lovely, he said, ‘The incident of violence should not have occurred inside a religious place. Whatever the situation is, we will follow Supreme Court guidelines and will go ahead with the elections’.
With just 45 days left now, Sikh religious-political affairs maintain that it would be impossible to conduct elections in this year with Delhi Assembly session slated for December first week only.
In Delhi, the elections would be a direct fight between the ruling Delhi Akali Dal headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal have already vociferously opposed the move to amend the Delhi Gurdwara Act to provide for direct election to the office of the president.
Political experts believe that, the problem with the SAD in Delhi is that the party lacks a leader who can confront Sarna in the direct fight. In case the amendment is carried out, every voter would exercise two votes, one for the member and the other for president.
A Sikh leader who will be participating in the elections, on condition of anonymity, said, ‘Nowadays, we are confused that whether the elections will be in the new format or the old one. There are a lot of disputes revolving around the elections this time’.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections was initially scheduled for February 2011 and was postponed. But sources said that it is likely to be rescheduled again, and will held after the forthcoming Assembly elections slated for next year.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed to conduct election before 31 December as it was pending for a long time. However, the move for the postponement of elections has already been set in motion with the proposal to amend the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act.
If sources is to believe, there would be no problem in bypassing the court directive on the plea of amendment to the Act, as it would have to be adopted in the Assembly and would become operative after the notification is issued following the due process.
The proposed amendment is for direct election of the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee by the voters instead by elected members.
When contacted to Delhi Minister of Gurdwara Elections and Gurdwara Administration Arvinder Singh Lovely, he said, ‘The incident of violence should not have occurred inside a religious place. Whatever the situation is, we will follow Supreme Court guidelines and will go ahead with the elections’.
With just 45 days left now, Sikh religious-political affairs maintain that it would be impossible to conduct elections in this year with Delhi Assembly session slated for December first week only.
In Delhi, the elections would be a direct fight between the ruling Delhi Akali Dal headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal have already vociferously opposed the move to amend the Delhi Gurdwara Act to provide for direct election to the office of the president.
Political experts believe that, the problem with the SAD in Delhi is that the party lacks a leader who can confront Sarna in the direct fight. In case the amendment is carried out, every voter would exercise two votes, one for the member and the other for president.
A Sikh leader who will be participating in the elections, on condition of anonymity, said, ‘Nowadays, we are confused that whether the elections will be in the new format or the old one. There are a lot of disputes revolving around the elections this time’.
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