Denying that the Delhi Government had any role to play
in the violence pertaining to gurdwara politics at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj
Sahib here on Thursday, Delhi Gurdwara Election & Gurdwara
Administration Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said over the weekend that
the main intention behind the proposed amendment to the Delhi Sikh
Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2012, was to remove corruption and
horse-trading and make the administration more accountable.
“We
were receiving a lot of complaints about corruption in the gurdwara
management. It was said that the members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management Committee [DSGMC] switched loyalties easily in the absence of
any anti-defection law. Consequently, the positions of the chairman and
other members of various institutions were being compromised. We wanted
to clean up the system,” said Mr. Lovely.
He said
the Delhi Cabinet had passed the proposed amendment on October 8 as it
came under its purview. “The Act was brought by the Delhi Assembly and
so it can also be amended only through its approval. So where is the
question of interference?” he said.
He said just as
chairmen of various bodies and banks are elected directly while members
were elected separately, so too the Delhi Government had proposed the
introduction of a two-vote system for separate elections for the post of
president of DSGMC and its members.
“We want to give
the power of election to the people of Delhi. They will be able to
elect the DSGMC president as also its members. What is the harm in it?
Why is the Shiromani Akali Dal [Badal] leadership so perturbed with
this?” Mr. Lovely said.
He said it will be better if
SAD leader and Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal focused on his
State rather than projecting himself as the champion of the cause of
Delhi’s Sikhs. “Punjab today is suffering from acute drug addiction. Mr.
Badal should eradicate the problems of his State first,” Mr. Lovely
said, echoing views expressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally
in Punjab recently.
Mr. Lovely’s statements assume
significance as the SAD (Badal) has been repeatedly accusing the
Congress of interfering in Sikh politics in Delhi. It has also charged
that the Delhi Cabinet’s decision to pass the proposal for amending the
DSG Bill was motivated by politics.
with thanks : The Hindu : LINK