Giani Harpreet Singh elected Akali Dal breakaway faction's chief

Amritsar, Aug 11 (IANS) Akal Takht's former acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh was on Monday unanimously elected as President of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) breakaway faction, while Bibi Satwant Kaur was elected as Chairperson of the party’s religious wing at an election conducted by the Akal Takht-constituted five-member committee in this Punjab holy city.

The participants in the election were rivals of the SAD, which is led by Sukhbir Badal, son of late Parkash Singh Badal.

Both claimed to be the original Akali Dal that came into being on December 14, 1920, to free gurdwaras from the control of ‘mahants’.

The election of the party was conducted following last year’s edict by the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs that tasked the five-member committee to hold a membership drive for the party and subsequently hold the organisational elections.

The rivals accused Sukhbir Badal of ignoring last year’s ‘hukamnama' (edict) from the Akal Takht, which called for fresh membership and unity across Akali Dal factions.

The Sikh high priests, then led by Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, had directed a reorganisation of the Akali Dal and formed a seven-member committee, led by then SGPC President Harjinder Dhami, to enrol new members.

Giani Harpreet Singh, jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib, was a signatory to the directive. However, the SAD led by Badal rejected the Takht-constituted committee and carried out its own membership drive. Later, it re-elected Sukhbir Badal as the party President in April.

Referring to last year’s directive of the Akal Takht, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema had said the directive was aimed at consolidating the SAD. He said anyone who had headed the Akal Takht couldn't compete for the post of a political party's President, indirectly hinting that the Akal Takht's former acting Jathedar couldn’t become the party President.

Monday’s election, held at the Gurdwara Burj Akali Phoola Singh, saw the presence of nearly 500 delegates elected from across the country under the supervision of the committee to reorganise the Akali Dal.

Earlier, Giani Harpreet Singh had said in a social media post that he could not contest the election against slain AISSF leader Amrik Singh’s daughter Satwant Kaur, who is another contender for the top post, citing "she is a respected figure for him".

--IANS

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