Badal opts for 'harmless' SGPC chief

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, NOV. 27. Amid high drama and tension between the rival Akali factions, Mr. Kirpal Badungar, became the 36th person to be elected President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) whose general house met at its headquarters in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar this afternoon. Mr. Badungar was serving as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, and is considered ``harmless'', especially after the spate of embarrassing situations created by the previous incumbents for Mr. Badal.

When reports last came in Mr. Badungar was declared elected and he immediately took charge after polling 112 votes as against 56 in favour of Mr. Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, who was fielded by the Panthic Morcha, a conglomerate of the rival splinter Akali groups.

It was yet another rare occasion in the Teja Singh Samundari Hall, which is the SGPC headquarters, when the elections were conducted through casting of the ballot. The process of election for the other office bearers and members of the Executive Committee was expected to carry on late into the night.

Of the 185-member house, 170 were present. The outgoing chief, Mr. Jagdev Singh Talwandi, and another member, Mr. Puran Singh Josh, also from the ruling faction, created ripples when they tore off their ballot papers.

They said that they could not vote for a person, who had links with the controversial godman, Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in incidents of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib, creating a crisis in the state recently. The name of Mr. Badungar was conveyed by Mr. Badal from Delhi, through his special emissaries this morning.

The Panthic Morcha, which was led by the 25 times SGPC chief, Mr. G.S. Tohra, raised various objections including the overwhelming presence of police personnel in plain clothes in the Golden Temple complex.

The Morcha members stalled the proceedings at least half-a-dozen times, including an occasion, where Mr. Tohra snatched the microphone and forced the new SGPC chief to accept his resolution to condemn the recent incidents of sacrilege and ``condole'' harm to the Guru Granth Sahib.

Though Mr. Badungar is known for his die hard loyalty towards Mr. Badal, his election to this important position in the religio- political sphere is expected to have a manifold impact on Punjab politics, especially on the eve of the Assembly elections.

The Badal camp was quite exhilarated that the party chief had decided in favour of flexing his muscles to rebuff the threats from Mr. Talwandi, whose supporters hinted at joining the Tohra camp in case he was removed.

The Badal camp also pointed out that the election of Mr. Badungar, who is from the Backward Classes, would help the party in the coming Assembly polls. They say that the new incumbent is the second leader from the non-Jat sections of the Sikh community, selected to head the organisation, ever since Mr. Badal took charge of the party affairs.

Interestingly Mr. Badungar is the fourth chief of the ``parliament of the Sikhs'' since general elections were last conducted in 1996. Mr. Tohra was removed after he fell out with Mr. Badal on the eve of the celebrations of the tercentenary of the creation of the Khalsa order in 1999.

His successor, the first woman chief of the body, Bibi Jagir Kaur, also had to make way following her stand off with the top Sikh clergy and the controversy surrounding the implementation of the ``Nanakshahi'' calendar.

Considered to be the `Iron Man' of Akali politics, Mr. Talwandi who took over last year, had to be replaced after differences with Mr. Badal and his loyalists on various issues as well his confrontation with the apex Sikh clergy, who again have the ears of the Chief Minister.

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