Having failed to conduct the elections for Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, The BJP government has taken the unprecedented step of appointing a 41-member ad hoc committee to manage the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC).
The move may end up delaying the elections to the HSGMC for the next 18 months and avoid any confrontation in Gurudwara politics of the state ahead of the assembly elections.
According to a gazette notification issued by the Home Department, the new committee will oversee and supervise the assets of Gurdwaras across Haryana. The notification cites the powers granted under sub-section (8) of section 16 of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014, and The Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Amendment Act, 2022.
The notification states: “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (8) of section 16 of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014 (Act 22 of 2014) and The Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Amendment Act, 2022 (Haryana Act no. 17 of 2023), the Governor of Haryana hereby nominates the following persons as members of the Adhoc Committee to manage, supervise, and take over all the assets of Gurdwaras, including movable and immovable properties, until the constitution of the Management Committee as provided under section 11 of the Act or a period of eighteen months, whichever is earlier.”
The appointment of this committee also marks the exclusion of several previous HSGMC members, including former president Bhupinder Singh Assandh, ex-vice president Didar Singh Nalvi, ex-general secretary Ramnik Singh Mann, and ex-executive member Winner Singh. However, members from the former panel, such as Baljeet Singh Daduwal, Sudarshan Singh Sehgal, Ravinder Kaur Ajrana, Jagsir Singh Mangeana, Baba Gurmeet Singh Tirlokewala, and Sukhwinder Singh Mandebar, have been retained in the new ad hoc panel. The notification also nullifies any previously constituted committees under these provisions.
The notification also declares that any previously constituted committees under these provisions are now superseded. A faction of the Haryana Sikh community, led by Didar Singh Nalvi, former vice-president of the HSGMC, has urged Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to conduct the HSGMC elections before the state assembly elections. They argue that the government-nominated committee’s term, which expired on May 31, 2024, is still active, and the committee continues to use funds from the Gurdwara offering box. They have called for immediate action to halt what they term the “ghost committee’s” expenditure of Gurdwara funds.
The Haryana Gurdwara Election Commissioner had initially scheduled the HSGMC elections for March 7, 2024, but the elections were postponed due to conflicts with school board exams and parliamentary elections.