SGPC elections-change in the guard-Longowal fails in Sukhbir’s loyalty test
Kanwar Inder singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Gobid Singh Longowal, a trusted lieutenant of Sukhbir Singh Badal in SGPC, fails in his loyalty test, as shiromani akali dal president handed over the reins of mini parliament of Sikhs-shiromani gurudwara prabandhak committee to its former President Bibi Jagir Kaur, for the next one-year term.
It was expected that Sukhbir Singh Badal will retain Gobid Singh Longowal as SGPC President, for fourth term (2017, 2018 and 2019). But Sukhbir replaces him with Bibi Jagir kaur.
In the new executive Bhagwant singh Sialka is the new general secretary, Surjit Singh is the senior vice president and Buta Singh is the junior vice president along with the other office bearers of the religious body.
As per sources, Longowal might have been replaced “as he faced flak over mishandling the issue of 328 missing ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib which still refused to die down. The protest by other Sikh outfits leading to group clashes inside the Golden Temple complex was highly criticized”
As per Gurdwara Act 1925, the SGPC body has to be revamped every year by electing its president, senior vice president, junior vice president, general secretary and 15-member executive body, unanimously during the general house or through voting, if necessary.
At present, the house consisted of 166 members in addition to 15 co-opted members, five Takht Jathedars and the Golden Temple head granthi. Nearly 17 members have died, while the two had resigned from the membership.
Bibi Jagir Kaur is the first woman to be re elected for the another time as the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), an organisation that manages historic Sikh shrines and some educational institutions in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
SGPC elections-change in the guard-Longowal fails in Sukhbir’s loyalty test. jagir kaur had held the same post from March 1999 to November 2000, when she resigned amid allegations that she was involved in the murder of her daughter.
November 27,2020
