Badal’s loyalist Harjinder Singh Dhami re-elected as SGPC chief

Amritsar, Oct 28 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate and loyalist of the Badal family, Harjinder Singh Dhami was on Monday re-elected as the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for the fourth time in a row by defeating three-time Sikh body chief Bibi Jagir Kaur.

Out of the total 142 votes, Dhami got 107 votes, while Bibi Jagir Kaur polled just 33 votes. Two votes were declared invalid.

Of the 148 members, 142 turned up to exercise their franchise for the top post of the apex Gurdwara body at the Teja Singh Samundri Hall in Golden Temple complex here.

Raghujit Singh Virk was elected as senior vice-president unopposed. Baldev Singh Kalyan and Sher Singh were elected as junior vice-president and general secretary, respectively.

The 11-member executive was also nominated unanimously.

Dhami has been the SGPC chief for consecutive four terms from 2021. He had replaced Bibi Jagir Kaur as the chief in 2021-2022.

As per Gurdwara Act of 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.

This is probably the last annual election of the existing body. The Chief Gurdwara Election Commission has declared to hold the SGPC general elections for a five-year term.

The rebel group of the Shiromani Akali Dal had announced senior leader Bibi Jagir Kaur (70) as its candidate for the SGPC polls.

Jagir Kaur was the SGPC president thrice -- 1999, 2004 and 2020, as the SAD candidate. In 2000, she was forced to step down as the SGPC chief after she was accused of murdering her 19-year-old daughter.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a first information report against her. However, she was acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2018.

In 2022, Kaur revolted against SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and even contested SGPC elections unsuccessfully in that year. She was expelled for “anti-party” activities but rejoined the Badal faction in March this year before the Lok Sabha elections.

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