Preacher Daduwal elected HSGMC chief

Kaithal: Sarbat Khalsa appointed jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Baljit Singh Daduwal has been elected as the president of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) on Thursday.

The election was held at Gurdwara Patshahi Chhevin and Nauvin in Cheeka town of Kaithal district amid tight police security.

Except for a halt of about one-and-a-half hour midway, due to an objection raised by Daduwal against the presiding officer Darshan Singh Barari, the election was a peaceful event.

According to the information, all eligible 36 members of HSGMC from different parts of state arrived in Cheeka town to exercise their voting right. The contest was primarily between two candidates, Baljit Singh Daduwal of Sirsa and Jasbir Singh Khalsa of Dosarka, Ambala.

While announcing the results, the election presiding officer Barari said, “A total of 36 members of HSGMC voted for president post on Thursday. Out of 36, jathedar Baljit Singh Daduwal received 19 votes and Jasbir Singh Khalsa received 17 votes. Accordingly, Daduwal has been elected as president of HSGMC.”

HSGMC was divided into two groups: one of former president Jagdish Singh Jhinda and former senior vice president Didar Singh Nalvi. Daduwal had raised a written objection against voting rights to three members holding membership of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar too and alleged that presiding officer Barari is doing partiality in favour of his rival Jhinda group.

Following this, sub-divisional magistrates and nodal officers Guhla-Cheeka Shashi Vasundhra and Kaithal Sanjay Kumar halted the election process midway and left the gurdwara premises to consult HSGMC Act and law. But the voting process was resumed at 2.45pm as the time for voting was only till 3pm and nine members were yet to cast their vote.

SDM Shashi said, “On the basis of facts presented by the presiding officer, the objection was overruled. Then we decided to continue the election and it completed peacefully.”

Daduwal said, “Haryana committee came into existence in 2014 and for the last six years, Jhinda Sahib was running it and we had supported him and now we also expect complete support of his group. Our aim is to improve the management of all gurdwaras under HSGMC, propagation of Sikh religion, keertan darbars, and amrit sanchar (initiation of Sikhs) at large scale in all the regions of Haryana. We will also start a campaign against drugs in state. We will organise different competitions like turban tying, gurbani kanth (reciting gurbani from memory) at a large scale.

Daduwal resigns as jathedar at Takht Damdama Sahib

After getting elected as HSGMC president, Daduwal said, “On October 10, 2015, Sarbat Khalsa appointed me as jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib. As I have been elected as president of HSGMC, I urge Sarbat Khalsa organisations to find a deserving Sikh and appoint him as jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib.”