Makkar re-elected SGPC chief

Amritsar, Nov 25: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Avtar Singh Makkar was today re-elected President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), defeating the combined candidate of various 'Panthic' factions Gurvinder Singh Shampura by a large margin of 104 votes.

Jathedar Makkar polled 139 votes while his rival could muster only 35 votes in the general house of the SGPC, which met at the Teja Singh Samundri Hall in the Golden Temple complex here to elect office bearers and a 11-member executive.

A total of 175 votes out of the 181 were polled, with one vote being declared invalid.

Besides Jathedar Makkar, the SGPC general house retained the same office-bearers, while inducting four new members into the executive.

Mr Raghujit Singh Virk, a SGPC member from Haryana, was Unanimously re-elected senior vice-president of the SGPC and Mr Kewal Singh Badal as junior vice-president of the party. Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, a close confidant of former SGPC chief late Gurcharan Singh Tohra, was again elected the general secretary.

The four new executive members are Mr Shingara Singh and Mr Jagroop Singh of the SAD (Badal) and Mr Harbans Singh and Mr Jagdev Singh from the rival Akali factions. The other members of the executive include Mr Subba Singh Dabwali, Mr Dyal Singh, Mr Tek Singh Dhanula, Mr Rajinder Singh Mehta, Mr Santokh Singh Samra, Mr Gurbachan Singh Karmoolwal and Mr Surjit Singh Garhi.

This is the second consecutive term for the Ludhiana-based businessman Jathedar Makkar, who belongs to the 'bhappa' community (business class). He is only the second member of the 'bhappa' community to occupy this prestigious post, the first one being the Akali stalwart late Master Tara Singh. The victory of Jathedar Makkar was a foregone conclusion as the SAD (Badal) has a large support base in the general house. The challenge by the 'Panthic' groups, including the SAD (Amritsar) and SAD (Longowal), could well be described as a ''symbolic contest''.

The name of Jathedar Makkar was proposed by former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur and seconded by Mr Mohinder Singh Romana and Mr Alwinderpal Singh Pakoke. On the other hand the name of Mr Shampura was proposed by Mr Karnail Singh Panjoli and seconded by Mr Harcharan Singh and Mr Harbhajan Singh.

After the announcement of the victory of Jathedar Makkar, election of other office-bearers and the executive was taken up. The elected office-bearers, including Jathedar Makkar, were selected by SAD (Badal) president Prakash Singh Badal who had been assigned the task by the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and party's SGPC members.

UNI