Archita Vatsa
Sri Muktsar Sahib, 20 January
The Shiromani Akali Dal has started a campaign to recruit new members in Punjab. The former president of Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, today filled the form at the party office in village Badal and took membership of the party anew. Sukhbir said that according to the instructions of the working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, the party has started its membership campaign from today. He said, “About 40,000 people are expected to become members of Shiromani Akali from Lambi Assembly constituency alone. We have set a target of making 50 lakh members of the party.
It should be remembered that the rebel Akali leader Gurpratap Singh Wadala met Akal Takht Jathedar Raghbir Singh on Thursday and sought clarification on some points regarding the supervision of Shiromani Akali Dal’s new membership campaign. After the meeting, Wadala claimed that only the seven-member committee formed by the Akal Takht on December 2 last year can conduct the Shiromani Akali Dal membership campaign. He had claimed that the Jathedar had asked him to meet Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami to take a decision about this campaign. It may be mentioned that Dhami, former SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar, Akali leader Iqbal Singh Jhunda, rebel leader Gurpratap Singh Wadala, MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, Santa Singh Umaidpur and Satwant Kaur were included in the seven member committee formed by Akal Takht. Shiromani Akali Dal, however, formed its committee on January 10 to oversee this campaign. It is worth noting that other Akali leaders including former minister Daljit Singh Cheema are saying that as per the order given by the Akal Takht, the formation of a seven-member committee will cancel the party’s recognition from the Election Commission, so they are unable to follow this instruction. were
About the results of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGPC) elections, Sukhbir said, “The election results have given a clear message to the people that the big forces entering into Sikhism will be expelled. (Baljit Singh) Daduwal and others, who lost the election, are the men of the agencies. They also spoiled the atmosphere in Punjab and Haryana. Daduwal and others were behind the splits in SGPC and formation of HSGPC. This is a clear message to these powers not to interfere in religious matters. Let the followers of religion take their decisions.”
