Chandigarh: In a breather to Sukhbir Singh Badal, the beleaguered Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) retained its hold over the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), as its candidate Harjinder Singh Dhami defeated Akali rebel Bibi Jagir Kaur in the elections held Tuesday.
Dhami, the incumbent SGPC head, was elected to the top post for the fourth time.
His rival Kaur, once a close confidante of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, is a prominent leader of the Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar, a breakaway faction of the SAD that challenges the authority of SAD president Sukhbir.
Earlier, she had headed the SGPC on three occasions while being in the Akali Dal.
Tuesday’s election was crucial for the Akalis, amid heightened tensions with the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, that works in close administrative contact with the SGPC.
Dhami won comfortably, getting 107 votes out of the 142 votes polled. Kaur received only 33 votes, less than what she tallied in 2022. Two votes were declared invalid.
The SGPC presidential elections are held every year to select its head from among the members. Since the majority of the SGPC members owe their allegiance to the SAD, generally these elections are a cakewalk for the Akali candidate.
The Print explains why the SGPC is important in Punjab politics and how the presidential election helps the Shiromani Akali Dal.
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SGPC & its importance
The SGPC is a statutory body created under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. The Act was the culmination of the gurdwara reform movement led by the Akalis. The reform movement of the early 1920s was a non-violent agitation to free the gurdwaras from the control of corrupt mahants (hereditary managers of gurdwaras).
Under the Act, the SGPC is designed to be a democratically elected body tasked with administering and managing historical and other gurdwaras. At the core of the SGPC are 180 members elected by Sikhs from clearly defined geographical constituencies.
The elections to choose the SGPC members are supposed to take place every five years. Every year, these members elect a president, who in turn chooses an executive body. Usually, these elections take place in November.
The SGPC president, a 11-member executive body, and office bearers are responsible for the day-to-day working of the Committee. Over the years, Delhi and Haryana have created their own bodies to control the gurdwaras falling in their jurisdiction.
The SGPC commands authority not just over the functioning of some of the biggest gurdwaras, but is also responsible for their financial management. For instance, the Golden Temple has an annual budget of Rs 1,000 crore. In Punjab, the SGPC has large tracts of land, which are generally leased out for cultivation and is a source of revenue.
The SGPC draws temporal strength from working in tandem with the five takhts, or seats of Sikh power, including the Akal Takht, Amritsar, considered to be the highest temporal body of the Sikhs. The high priests of these takhts are ex officio SGPC members.
The statutory body is also the appointing authority of the jathedars, who once selected are expected to function independently in the best interest of Sikhism.
Apart from managing gurdwaras, the SGPC is also entrusted with the task of spreading Sikhism. It exhorts Sikhs across the world to uphold the Sikh Rehat Maryada (code of conduct). The SGPC is also the final authority in cases where either Sikhs or non-Sikhs come into conflict with the conventions and traditions of Sikhism.
Also called the mini parliament of the Sikhs, the SGPC also takes up Sikh issues with the government in India and those abroad in case their rules and regulations threaten to compromise the maryada of any Sikh.
How SGPC elections take place
The SGPC has 180 members out of which 159 are elected through ballot paper voting in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh every five years. Fifteen members are nominated from among prominent Sikhs across India, while six others include the five high priests and the head granthi of the Golden Temple.
The SGPC elections are conducted by the Gurdwara Election Commission set up by the Union home ministry. The electoral rolls are updated in the same manner as it happens for the parliamentary or assembly elections. The deputy commissioners of the districts are tasked with the updation of electoral rolls.
Only those Sikhs registered as voters by the Gurdwara Election Commission are allowed to vote. Registered voters include adult Sikh men and women who are Keshdharis (Sikhs with unshorn hair) but may or may not be Amritdharis (baptised Sikhs).
Sehajdharis—those who are “on the path” to becoming Sikhs—do not have voting rights.
Although SGPC elections are supposed to be held every five years, they are held irregularly. The last SGPC elections were held in 2011. However, following litigation regarding voting rights to Sehajdharis, these elected members started functioning only in 2016. Their term ended in 2021.
Retired high court judge S.S. Saron was appointed as the Gurudwara election commissioner by the Centre in 2020. Since then the process of updating electoral rolls is on, and the same set of members elected in 2011 is continuing till fresh elections take place.
The last date for the registration of new voters has been extended multiple times because of a tepid response. The ongoing voter registration, which started in October last year, only saw about 27.4 lakh sign-ups till 30 April.
The last date of registration of voters is now 31 October, and the registration has touched over 55 lakh. The election is expected to be held early next year.
Why SAD controls SGPC
Even as most of the major political parties in Punjab field their candidates, the SAD candidates have been winning majority seats for the past few decades. The Akalis face severe criticism from their political opponents for having a vice-like grip over the SGPC and using it in furthering their political interests.
Despite the criticism from opposing political parties and also breakaway factions of the Akali Dal, the party led by Sukhbir continues to dominate the SGPC. All eyes are now on the next SGPC elections, when major political parties will try to win the majority for gaining control
Tuesday’s results, meanwhile, have reinforced Sukhbir’s control over the SGPC as well as his own party, which is going through a tough phase ever since it went out of power in 2017. After the recent drubbing in the parliamentary elections, the Akali Dal Sudhar Lehar had launched a full-fledged attack on Sukhbir, complaining against him to the Akal Takht.
In August, the Akal Takht found Sukhbir guilty of religious misconduct in having brought down the position of the Sikhs and declared him a tankhaiya, or religious sinner. It is now expected to announce a punishment to Sukhbir to atone for his sins. Only after the punishment is completed can Sukhbir atone for his sins.
As of now, Sukhbir has given the reins of the party to acting president Balwinder Singh Bhunder. After the Akal Takht barred Sukhbir from contesting the Punjab assembly bypolls, the party under Bhunder’s leadership decided last week not to contest the next month’s Punjab assembly bypolls in a show of solidarity with Badal.
Party sources claim that the delay by the Akal Takht in declaring the punishment for Sukhbir is leading to differences with the Akali Dal. Now with the former Punjab chief minister regaining control over the SGPC, his position vis-à-vis the Akal Takht is expected to strengthen.
(Edited by Tony Rai)