A day before the poll for the SGPC president, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday exuded confidence that his party candidate will win the election.
He also made a last minute appeal to the expelled party leader Bibi Jagir Kaur to withdraw from the fray, saying, “You (Kaur) have spent your whole life in the SAD and should abide by the wishes of the 'Panth' instead of politicising the issue”.
The poll for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief will be held on Wednesday. The SAD had announced incumbent Harjinder Singh Dhami as its candidate for the president of the apex gurdwara body.
Speaking to reporters here, Badal said the SGPC members were set to defeat “anti-panthic” forces including the Centre, BJP and AAP which were trying their best to wrest control of the SGPC to “weaken” the SAD.
After attending a meeting with SGPC members in Teja Singh Samundari Hall in the Golden Temple complex, the SAD president also congratulated the members for “snubbing” those who were trying to solicit votes for Kaur by offering “inducements.”
He said it seemed the members were eager to give a befitting response to “anti- panthic” forces and that was why they had collected at the Hall in greater numbers. "I am confident the SAD will secure a historic win in the election to the post of president of SGPC,” said Badal.
Earlier, in the meeting Badal appealed to the members to unite behind the candidature of incumbent Dhami. The SAD on Monday expelled Bibi Jagir Kaur from its primary membership for her alleged anti-party activities after she stuck to her stand of contesting the SGPC presidential poll.
On Sunday, Kaur, who was once considered loyalist to the Badal family, had even rolled out her agenda for the SGPC chief and had also assured of restoring autonomy of the apex gurdwara body. She had been pressing to be the party's nominee for the SGPC presidential poll.
Kaur, former MLA from Bholath seat, was SGPC chief in 1999, 2004 and 2020. The SAD earlier had also slammed Minority Commission Chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura for allegedly seeking support for the Kaur's candidature for the SGPC polls while accusing him of trying to break the SGPC.
(With PTI Inputs)
