AMRITSAR: The SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, last week said that his recent meeting

with the chief minister, Beant Singh, had no political motive and was meant purely to resolve the admission problems in the SGPC- run engineering colleges Speaking to reporters here. It said;” My cards are open. I have nothing to hide.” After the meeting between Tohra and the chief minister, there has been widespread speculation here that the two leaders had arrived at an understanding to counter the increasing popularity of Prakash Singh Badal, president of the Akali Dal (Badal). His emergence as a political force in the state had posed a threat to the stature of both the leaders.

The chief minister sees Badal as the only person who can dethrone him in the next elections while Tohra feels threatened after B; announced that he would field party’s candidate against Tohra for the post of the SGPC president. Tohra has been holding the chair for the past 12 years.

Article extracted from this publication >> August 5, 1994