In Haryana, SAD goes soft on separate gurdwara panel

Karnal, Haryana: In a last-minute effort to woo the Sikh voters of Haryana for the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has agreed to initiate a dialogue on forming a separate religious body in the state.

It has proposed a 10-member team (five each from the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee [ad hoc] and Punjab) to decide the long-pending demand of a section of Sikhs in Haryana.

The Jhinda faction of the HSGPC has declared support for the INLD in the Lok Sabha elections.

Rival-faction leader Didar Singh Nalwi has announced support to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) recently.

He has shelved his plant to contest from the Haryana Jan Shakti Party, a new political outfit.

The SAD had always opposed the demand for separating Haryana Sikh bodies from the control of the Amritsarbased Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

The INLD candidate from Kar nal, Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, said here on Tuesday that he was mediating talks between HSGPC ad-hoc president Jagdish SinghJhinda and SAD president and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

“Together we will take up the HSGPC matter with the SGPC so that it considers the longstanding of Haryana Sikhs. The decision taken by the 10-member team after the Lok Sabha elections will be final,” said Sandhu.

Welcoming the Akali-INLD initiative, Jhinda said he had struggled for years to form an independent body to manage the Sikh shrines of Haryana.

Source: HT