Amritsar:   From horse-trading to misusing the election machinery to allowing the casting of bogus votes, the SAD has won the SGPC elections with a thumping majority thanks to Gurdwara Election chief commissioner who was under obligation from the Badal government for favour he got in the form of appointment of his daughter as a top law officer in Punjab advocate general office.

By Kanwar Pal Singh from Amritsar

The outcome of the elections to the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee was on expected lines. The landslide victory of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was evident given the election machinery and organizational strong base it has at its command.

Patits & non-sikhs waiting for their turn to cast their votes in the sgpc elections.

On the other hand, the performance of the Panthic Morcha has been pathetic. The Panthic Morcha conglomerate of five Sikh bodies came into being with a single agenda to end the dominance of Badals in the SGPC. It is the dominance over the SGPC which has helped Badals to dictate religio-political affairs of the Sikhs.

Dal Khalsa didn’t contest the elections and stayed away from the alliance. However, the members of the organization supported the candidates associated with the SAD (Panch Pardani) and Khalsa Action Committee.

Incidentally, Simranjit Singh Mann’s sticking to the agenda of Khalistan came as the main stumbling block in the way of his forging alliance with the Panthic Morcha resulting in triangular contest, which turned out to be ‘blessing in disguise’ for Parkash Singh Badal and his outfit.

For Panthic Morcha, the goal for Khalistan was not an election issue but Mann Sahib had his own justification for raking up this issue during the SGPC elections. His decision to go alone divided the anti-Badal vote bank in the Sikh political matrix. Whether Mann played the role of spoilsport or he was left with no other option than to play it, is a matter of perception.

Yet another problem the Panthic Morcha faced was the leadership crisis; none of them matched the resources as well as muscle power with the Badals. The energetic Badals managed the election campaign aggressively and in a systematic way. Learning from the adversary is not a Sikh character, ironically.

The indifferent and biased approach of Justice HS Brar (retd), Chief Gurdwara Election Commissioner added to the woes of the Panthic Morcha. Brar’s failure to check the enrollment of bogus votes has not only put up a question mark on his neutrality but also compromised the sanctity of the Gurdwara Elections as well.

A sikh with shorn hair showing his ink sign after casting his vote in the sgpc elections.

On the day of the election, those who are ineligible to vote in the voters list –so called Sehajdharis, Patits and non-Sikhs (Hindus, Muslims), were allowed to cast their votes by the election staff conniving with the administration. All this happened in violation of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 and throwing all norms to the wind.

The media has exposed the flagrant use of office by the Gurdwara Election Commission, various deputy commissioners of Punjab and scores of the returning officers appointed under the provisions of the Sikh Gurdwara Act.

The entire Panthic Morcha is crying and Mann fuming against Gurdwara Panel chief for choosing to look the other way despite a flurry of brazen violations exposed by the media. A Chandigarh based resident Editor of English daily has an answer to it. He writes, “that perhaps was Brar's way of returning the favour to the Badal Government for appointing his daughter as a top law officer in Punjab advocate general office”.

Interestingly, groups considered being “radicals” have succeeded in sending their members though symbolic in the SGPC house. SAD (Mann) has won 3 seats, Shiromani Akali Dal (Panch Pardani) has won the Phillaur seat and candidates having links with Khalsa Action Committee have bagged Hargobindpur and Sirsa seats.

Strangely, the Akali factions led by Ravi Inder Singh, Paramjit Singh Sarna and Surjit Singh Barnala failed to open the account despite their liberal credentials. Barnala is most favourite of the Indian establishment, yet his moderate posturing didn’t work with the electorate.

Apart from horse-trading and misuse of administration and election machinery by ruling party, the main factors that led to the downfall of the Panthic Morcha includes lack of resources, leadership crisis, over-dependency on Captain Amrinder Singh and Manpreet Singh Badal’s support base.

To my mind, there is a need for Morcha leaders to do some serious and genuine introspection as to what went wrong. They have to find out the answer as to why the voters have ignored them despite their Panthic credentials?