No compromise on voting rights, says Sehajdhari party chief

Amritsar, Punjab: The Sehajdhari Sikh Party (SSP) today said there would be no compromise with the SAD on the voting rights of Sehajdharis and the legal fight would continue. However, the party was willing to save the new SGPC House from re-elections, said party president PS Ranu.

“We know that the fate of the new House is hanging in the balance as the outcome of the elections is subject to the court verdict on the Sehajdhari issue. We will submit to the court that we’ll have no objection if the voting rights are given to us in the next elections and the new House may be allowed to function.” He attributed the move to the “poor fiscal condition” of the state.

He said the Sehajdharis considered themselves a Panthic force and the step to “revive” the new SGPC House was keeping in view the interest of the Sikh community. Ranu denied that his stance on the issue was any different from what he had stated earlier this week.

He alleged that the compromise between the SAD and the Sehajdharis had upset SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar. He claimed Makkar had met him thrice in Ludhiana and had admitted that debarring Sehajdharis from voting was wrong.

He alleged that delaying the case in the Supreme Court suited Makkar “because he is continuing to hold the post of SGPC president only on the orders of the court ”. He claimed to have proof that Makkar had offered him fee for lawyers to continue the “friendly match” .

Makkar termed Ranu’s allegations as “totally baseless”. He claimed that it was Ranu who had been calling up his PA, requesting him to arrange a meeting with him (Makkar).

He denied that he wanted to delay the case in the Supreme Court.

Source: The Tribune