CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal President and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said he had been deeply moved by the trust reposed by the Khalsa Panth in the programs and policies of the Shiromani Akali Dal in the just concluded SGPC elections. He thanked the Sikh sangat for the overwhelming mandate in favour of the SAD, the Sant Samaj and allies.
In a statement, Badal reiterated his and his party’s resolve to work day and night to justify people’s trust and will uphold the values that Gurbani teaches us. Mr. Badal said he had been surprised by the unwarranted hue and cry raised by the parties rejected by the Panth in the poll and said “ I hope they show more grace and dignity in true Sikh traditions and accept the verdict of the Sikh sangat in all humility. There is no place for arrogance in the face of collective will of the Khalsa Panth”.
The SAD President pointed out it was not only in Punjab alone, where the SAD-BJP were in government but also in Haryana the Khalsa Panth had placed its faith in the SAD and had thwarted those who were out to divide the community. "It is for the Congress sponsored Panthic Morcha to explain why our opponents met the same fate even in the Congress-ruled Haryana where the SAD won eight out of 11 seats. In fact, their plight in Haryana is even more pitiable as the main leaders of the Panthic Morcha, Jhinda and Nalvi, lost with humiliating margins.
Badal also felicitated the leaders and workers of SAD for this superb victory and stated the crushing defeat of the anti-panthic forces especially the Panthic morcha in these elections was a pointer towards its complete isolation and rejection of their immoral acts to capture SGPC.
On another note....
SGPC Elections A Sham, Say US Sikhs
WASHINGTON – The American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has expressed dismay over the way the SGPC elections were conducted and appealed to the Akal Takht Jathedar to bring to “book all those instrumental in rigging the poll”.
In a statement, its chief Jaswant Singh Hothi and coordinator Pritpal Singh said it was unfortunate that “many non-Sikhs who were not eligible voters had cast their vote and genuine Sikhs were not even registered as voters”. They stated that it was not important as to who won the elections, but more significant was the fact how fairly these elections were conducted. The American Sikh leaders blamed the Central Government and Chief Gurdwara Election Commissioner Justice (retd) HS Brar “for creating a mess” during the SGPC elections. “The Chief Commissioner has failed to take note of the large-scale rigging and violence … Justice Brar acted as a puppet in the hands of the ruling SAD led by the Badals,” they alleged. They requested Jathedar Gurbachan Singh to summon Justice Brar and others to the Takht.