95% Akalis will quit SGPC if golaks removed from gurdwaras: Punjab CM

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said if “golaks” (donation boxes) are removed from gurdwaras - under the control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) - 95 per cent of its members owing allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will resign from the Sikh body.

After laying the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 138.82 crore in Muktsar, Mann said the SGPC had been turned into a “golak committee”.

Targeting SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, Mann said: “Now, Dhami, the Akali Dal worker, will give a statement saying CM Mann is wrong. These people keep bowing their heads and touching the feet of their party president because of the posts. This is their condition. I speak the truth and this is why they target me.”

The CM criticised the policies of the previous governments and targeted SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, late CM Parkash Singh Badal, senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia and former CM and BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh.

He, however, did not mention the Congress or its state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, despite being in the latter’s hometown Muktsar.

Referring to Harsimrat’s recent remark that no one knew about “chitta” (synthetic drugs) earlier, Mann said “back then, Majithia himself was called chitta”. He accused Sukhbir Badal of hypocrisy, saying he took responsibility for the sacrilege incidents before the Akal Takht but later denied it at a rally in Muktsar. He further targeted the previous governments, saying that even basic development works remained pending. He claimed that the Badals were unable to speak or read Punjabi properly.

Ridiculing former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, Mann said, “Captain Amarinder’s family has always sided with those in power – with the Mughals, the British, the Akalis, the Congress and now the BJP.”

The CM said investigation was underway into how some people had acquired transport businesses. He highlighted the state government’s achievements and directed the Principal Secretary of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department to display boards at upcoming project sites mentioning their timelines and completion dates.

During the event, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian appealed to the CM to grant Rs 3 crore for the water supply project at Mandi Killianwali in his Lambi Assembly segment, but the CM did not respond.

Bar calls for two-day work suspension

After a day-long protest during Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit to Muktsar, members of the District Bar Association held a meeting late in the evening with the Deputy Commissioner regarding the case registered against an advocate recently.

As Bar members remained unsatisfied, they called upon all the Bar associations across the state to suspend work on Monday and Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana has written to the DGP, urging immediate supervision of the complaint filed by

an advocate.

Advocate Shubham Sharma, Secretary of the District Bar Association, Muktsar, said, “Bar Associations across the state have accepted our call to suspend work for the next two days. We are demanding disciplinary action against the SSP and SP (D) in connection with this matter.”