CHANDIGARH: G:S. Tohra president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) will be the Akali Dal (Badal) candidate for the annual election on November 30.

Parkash Singh Badal who announced this at a news conference here said his party enjoyed an overwhelming majority in the SGPC and that Tohra would be elected its president again.

Answering questions Badal said he would try for unanimous election of the president and executive of the SGPC and the strategy to achieve this end would be decided by the party high command at its meeting here on November 16. Tohra who is running the 18th term as the Sikh body’s supremo is aligned to the Badal faction.

Tohras candidature brings the Badal faction face to face with the Akali Dal (Mann) and some other panthic organizations which are backing Jagdev Singh Talwandi in the election to the coveted post. Talwandi heading a breakaway days ago his decision to contest.

Badal and Tohra are visiting Delhi for two days from November 17 to meet national leaders of opposition parties to take up with them the issue of harassment of the Sikhs living in the Terai area of Uttar Pradesh by the State administration. Badal said he had already contacted Chandra Shekhar and V.P Singh and was trying to be in touch with leaders of the BJP which ruled the State His party the Akali leader said would cooperate with the Janata Dal in its pro-farmer agitation and planned to meet V.P Singh at Ludhiana where the later was coming on November 12.

Badal said his party was also starting a series of dharnas at district headquarters from December 1 to build up a mass movement against the disastrous economic and political policies of the Government and its reign of terror in the State. He would seek the support of major opposition parties to fight the oppression let loose by the “rootless and unpopular” Congress Government. Another issue to be highlighted during the agitation was the anti-people taxes imposed Punjab by the present regime.

Badal said there were reports that the Congress was behind the incidents of killing of innocent persons in the Tewrai region to malign the BJP Government and this charge must be probed. He regretted that the UP Congress leader N.D. Tiwari whose constituency was a part of the region and who had several friends among the Sikhs had not issued a single statement against the harassment to them.

Answering a question on the Ayodhya tangle Badal said his party wanted in amicable solution to the issue.

The Akali Dal (Mann) had last year put up former Jathedar of Akal Takht Harcharan Singh against Tohra but he had got only six votes. Talwandi himself does not enjoy much following and as such the fight would only be symbolic whatever might be the efforts of Mann. Talwandi is perhaps the only senior Akali leader who had congratulated the Chief Minister Beant Singh on his assuming office after the February elections.

The Akali Dal (Manjit) is also gearing up for the election but is yet to come out with its support to any candidate which would only be moral. The party lacks any following the SGPC general house.

The SGPC has a general house of 160 members including five jathedars of Takhsts who are ex-officio members without voting rights. A number of members have died during these years and the effective strength of the has been reduced to 115.

Meanwhile with the announcement of Jagdev Singh Talwandi to contest the election of the office of president of the SGPC the political activities among various Akali Dals have been geared up.

Gurcharan Singh Tohra president SGPC he responded the president of the supreme religious body for 18 terms has not yet given his mind for contesting the election again for 19th time.

Article extracted from this publication >> November 20, 1992