Sikh organisations slam parties for ignoring demand for Rajya Sabha seat

The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) and the Haryana Sikh Ekta Dal have accused political parties of ignoring the Sikh community in Haryana and not giving it adequate representation in political positions.

With two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana set to fall vacant, HSGMC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda had earlier appealed to both the BJP and the Congress to nominate a Sikh intellectual from the state. Several Sikh leaders had also run a social media campaign seeking representation for the community in the Upper House.

Expressing disappointment over the nominations, Jhinda said, “The political parties have once again failed to respect the sentiments and contribution of the community. The Sikh community has always stood with the nation in times of need and crisis, sacrificed their lives on the borders and carried out unmatched social services. But when it comes to recognising the contribution of the community, the weight of votes comes into the consideration, and the community is divided in different castes, and we don’t get the adequate representation.”

He said, “We had appealed to the BJP and Congress to send Sikh intellectuals to Rajya Sabha from Haryana. However, the Sikhs were ignored again and it has sent a message among the Sikh Sangat that the political parties have been just using the community for votes and they don’t respect the community’s sentiments.”

Similarly, Core Committee Member Amrit Singh Bugga said the community’s demand for representation had been overlooked.

“The community had raised the demand for a Rajya Sabha seat but no political party has honoured the demand and it makes us feel that the political parties are just using the community as a vote bank. They completely ignore the community during elections. There are many Sikh community leaders in the BJP and the party should have given an opportunity to them, but they were also ignored,” he said.

Bugga further said, “The Haryana Chief Minister can be spotted wearing a turban and going to Punjab, making claims regarding welfare of Sikh community, while the community in Haryana is feeling ignored. The CM should focus on the Sikh community and its pending demands in Haryana first.”