Tussle ensues over Khalsa Diwan control

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 20

The tussle between SAD and the Congress to take over the control of the Khalsa Diwan Singh Sabha management has intensified as the newly appointed president, Gurmeet Singh, has inducted Congress leaders on plum posts in the educational institutes run by Khalsa Diwan.

Even SAD councillor Tarloch Singh, after whose complaint SAD leader and former Khalsa Diwan president Rajinder Singh Sidhu was arrested, has been made president of Khalsa Senior Secondary School.

Congress leader and District Bar Association president Guriqbal Singh Chahal has been appointed as chairman of Khalsa Diwan Group of Institutes while another Congress leader Chamkaur Mann has been made director.

Other Congress leaders, who have been inducted in the Guru Nanak Khalsa Girls College management, are Prithpal Singh Jalal as president, former councilor Bhupinder Singh Bhullar as manager, councilor Beant Singh Randhawa as secretary, Harvinder Laddu as vice-president and Ashwani Bunty as cashier among others.

Congress councillor Jugraj Singh has been made executive member of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Khalsa Technical College while Shivkaran Singh Sidhu has been appointed as joint secretary.

Shivkaran Singh had earlier been booked for allegedly thrashing and sexually harassing a girl in the market at Ajit Road in 2014. The matter ended in a compromise later.

Reacting sharply to this development, SAD leader and former MLA Sarup Chand Singla said, “These appointments are invalid as Khalsa Diwan president is always elected through an election, which is held after a term of five years. There are 20 committee members, but they have made Gurmeet Singh self proclaimed president forcibly. They don’t have any support of its members. They don’t have any power, as per the constitution of the body, to appoint anyone.”

Singla said it had been done with thorough planning just to take over the Khalsa Diwan management.

“Initially, a complaint was lodged by Tarloch Singh against Rajinder Singh Sidhu. Later, they got Sidhu arrested in a case in which a girl committed suicide three months ago. Now, they have made Tarloch Singh president of Khalsa Senior Secondary School,” he added.

He added that Tarloch Singh was no more a SAD leader and was not active in the day-to-day party activities.

Singla said action against Tarloch would be taken in the upcoming party meeting.

He clarified that the party didn’t support the audio that went viral.

Tarloch Singh held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon in which he accused Sarup Chand Singla of supporting the accused in the abetment of suicide case.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s brother-in-law Jaijeet Singh Johal (Jojo) on Wednesday posted a status on his Facebook account questioning Union Cabinet Minister and MP from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, over her silence on the party leader Rajinder Singh Sidhu’s alleged involvement in abetment of suicide case.

Harsimrat and Singla are more interested in who controls the Singh Sabha Gurdwara politics in the city rather than raising voice against the crime committed by their own party leader Rajinder Singh Sidhu (55) against the Dalit girl (22), he said.

Jaijeet has asked Harsimrat to reply over the issue.