Monday, February 6, 2012

Sarnas, Badals gear up for Delhi gurudwara polls

The stage is being set for another electoral battle — this one in the national capital as the elections of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) are due on March 11. A core committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) will meet in Chandigarh on Sunday to finalise its agenda for the polls.


The Badals’ rival and DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna, who heads the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi), is also set to kick-start his campaign.
“Corruption in Delhi’s gurdwaras is going to be the SAD-Badal’s agenda to take on the Sarnas in the forthcoming elections. We will fine-tune things on Sunday,” said SAD (Badal) secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema, adding that apart from corruption, DSGMC-run educational institutions running into losses and sale of gurdwara committee-owned land to the Delhi government for building parking places would be the areas of focus for the SAD (Badal).
“Moreover they (the Sarnas) have shut down four schools being run by the committee, and have been using donations in gurdwaras to run a political campaign against us to support the Congress,” Cheema said.
General secretary of SAD (Delhi) and Paramjit’s younger brother Harvinder Singh Sarna, however, dismissed allegations of corruption.
“We are not like the Badals. They are corrupt and have used SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) money in the January 30 assembly elections,” said Harvinder, who was DSGMC president in 2005-06. “Our donation is 10% of what SGPC gets, and our expenditure is manifold.”
with thanks : Hindustan Times : link in headline for detailed news.

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