BJP also to have a say in SGPC elections

Patiala, November 8

With the SGPC presidential elections slated for tomorrow, all eyes are on how much support former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur will be able to garner.

It is for the first time that the BJP has indirectly entered the elections with a number of SGPC members, including Harpal Singh Jallah, Jaswinder Kaur Zira and Surjit Singh Garhi, of Rajpura in Patiala, associated with the saffron party for the first time.

Bibi Jagir Kaur, who has now been ousted from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), had become the SGPC president for the first time in 1999. At that time, she had replaced SAD stalwart and then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

The first and only woman chief has gone against the party by announcing her candidature for the president and will contest against incumbent president Harjinder Singh Dhami.

Among the SGPC members having voting rights, three are directly associated with the BJP.