It is the end of an era at Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Temple. Longtime president Balwant Singh Gill was defeated in temple elections Sunday that saw a Khalsa youth group sweep all the temple executive positions.

The youth group, headed by presidential candidate Amardeep Singh, won with 5,900 votes to Gill's 4,747, following by third-place finisher Sadhu Singh Samra, with 3,947.

Amardeep Singh, the 26-year-old newly elected youth slate president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, ran on a platform of following an edict to remove chairs and tables from the temple.

Gill and Samra had worked together for years as president and vice-president, but split in recent months, causing a division among Gurdwara voters.

The total number of votes cast for the two former allies was almost 3,000 more than the victorious slate's total.

Singh said his executive team, which takes over Jan. 1, will make youth and children in the community its priority.

"We are particularly focused on children and youth and we want to keep them away from gangs and violence, which has been a big problem in the Indo-Canadian community," Singh said in an interview. "We were elected with a plan to try to bring change."

A decade ago, the Sikh community was divided over a hukamnama from India to remove tables and chairs in the langar halls.

The new youth leadership ran on a platform of following the hukamnama. "Guru ka Langar means eating on the ground," Singh said.

But Singh said there is no rush to make such a change and that everything will be done in consultation with Gurdwara worshippers. He said that when the tables and chairs are removed, there will be special provisions for the elderly and the disabled.

"We want to bring change, but we also want to bring the community back together," said Singh, a 26-year-old software engineer.

Ranj Dhaliwal, an author who wrote a novel about gang violence called Daaku, was elected temple vice-president.

The youth slate, all of whom are Amritdhari Sikhs, posted an online announcement about their victory Monday.

"The entire Sikh Youth campaign wishes to express our heartfelt congratulations to the global Sikh community on this historic achievement which will close divides in our community and create new paths for peace and prosperity for our youth," it said. "With the blessings of God and the Guru, we pledge to serve the entire community with honesty, integrity, universal love and a commitment to the truth."

Gill pledged to work with the new executive and will sit on the committee as the ex-president.

"I will be there if they want to consult me or if they want my advice on any issue," Gill said. "Their slate was the winning slate and I congratulate them."

But he also acknowledged that his split with Samra cost each of them the election. "Our moderate group still has the votes, but our vote was split," he said.

Gill said he believes the new executive will consult the sangat before making changes such as the furniture removal.

Since about 1999 the issue of tables and chairs has not been an issue in temple election campaigns, Gill said.

"People were not discussing that any more. It was a thing of the past," Gill said. "No one wants any disturbance, but now this is coming up again. It is still a sensitive issue."

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