SGPC general poll: Deadline for voter registration extended by 2 months

GS Paul

Amritsar, February 27

Keeping in view the lukewarm response to enrolment for the ensuing Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) general elections, the Gurdwara Election Commission (GEC) has extended the deadline of voter registration process by two months.

An official of the Punjab Gurdwara Election Commission confirmed that the deadline for voter registration had been extended.

“Voter applications for SGPC polls would be accepted till April. A notification is yet to be released, which will also certify the new date for receipt of applications, claims and objections followed by the final publication of voter list,” he said.

The earlier deadline had been extended to February 29, 2024, from November 15, 2023. As per the schedule released by the GEC, the enrolment process was started from October 21, 2023.

Only 23.89 lakh applications had been received till February 21 from the state. During the last SGPC elections, held in 2011, around 52.69 lakh ‘eligible’ voters had participated.

Gopal Singh Sidhu, president, Chandigarh unit of SAD (Amritsar), said he had met Gurdwara Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) SS Saron two days ago and urged to extend the deadline and streamline the process for voter registration.

“After looking at the scant response, Justice Saron was kind enough to announce the extension,” he said. The registration of voters is governed by Rule 3 of the Sikh Gurdwara Board Election Rules, 1959.

Till February 21, the maximum number of 2,83,850 voter registration applications had been received from Ludhiana, followed by Gurdaspur (2,82,591), Amritsar (2,56,503), Sangrur (1,58,558), Tarn Taran (1,14,225) and Bathinda (1,05,969). The least applications were from Pathankot (19,559); Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (24,521) and Fatehgarh Sahib (56,132).

An applicant has to be ‘sabat surat’ Sikh (with unshorn hair and beard) and above 21 years of age (as on October 21, 2023). The Form-1 meant for voter registration has to be furnished by the applicant with his or her credentials matching with the government certified identity proofs, along with a self-declaration with the designated officials.