The Path Of BJP Became Difficult In Haryana Due To The Attitude Of Sikhs

Friday, 19 September 1966 09: 06

Vivek Saxena

New Delhi. After a crushing defeat in the recent assembly by-elections, now the horse of BJP’s victory seems to be stopping in Haryana. The reason for this is that despite having close ties with the Akali Dal, the attitude of the Sikh voter in the assembly elections is still unclear. Chances are that the Sikh voter is not going to vote for BJP and INLD. For the first time, the role of Akali Dal in the state seems to be ending.This time the results of Haryana assembly elections can be shocking . There have been so many strange political equations that both the main opposition parties – INLD and BJP are sure to get a tremendous setback. Till now he was considered a supporter of INLD and BJP. The reason for this was that earlier these two parties used to fight elections together. The late Devi Lal has been the turbaned brother of Parkash Singh Badal, while the BJP and the Akali Dal have an old political alliance.

This time also Akali Dal wanted BJP and INLD in the Lok Sabha elections. Let there be an alliance. But BJP did not pay heed to it. There were many reasons for this. The BJP felt that Omprakash Chautala’s tainted image would not make sense to have an alliance with him. In the Lok Sabha elections, Akali leaders campaigned in favor of INLD. But Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda played his master stroke. He got a separate Gurdwara Management Committee constituted for Haryana. This made the Sikhs of the state happy as they got the right to take over the management of their gurdwaras, while on the other hand Parkash Singh Badal and his party themselves came out in opposition to the Sikhs of the state. The point of his vengeance is that he got the senior most officials of Haryana Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee declared as Tankhaiyas.

Know that 72 Gurdwaras in the state Huh. His annual income is 350 crores. They have 6000 acres of valuable land. Its value is said to be around one lakh crores. Since 1966 Haryana was separated from Punjab, since then these gurdwaras were running under the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee located in Amritsar, on which

has always been the possession of the Badal faction. Everyone knows that Gurdwaras have played a very important role in the politics of Punjab. This committee, even after collecting 350 crores from Haryana, only on them. only used to spend crores. Even most of the employees there were from Punjab only. She is running more than 100 educational institutions, but there is not even one in Haryana. Due to this the Sikhs of Haryana had been complaining about their step-motherly treatment and were demanding their own separate management committee. After enacting a law on behalf of the state government, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee sent hundreds of people from Punjab to capture the Gurdwaras of Haryana. The conflict escalated so much that the matter reached the Supreme Court and it has issued an order to maintain status quo till the decision is taken.

The Akali government of Punjab is torturing the Sikh leaders of Haryana. A prominent Akali leader Sant Baba Baljit Singh Daduwal has been arrested after registering several cases against him. The Sikh leaders of Haryana allege that all this is being done because of revenge. He is being pressured to resign from the membership of Haryana Gurdwara Management Committee. Recently, the news of his resignation was also published, which his lawyer denied.

However, due to this controversy, neither BJP nor INLD is able to clear any stand. The resentment against the Akali Dal is increasing among the Sikhs of the state. If they come to campaign in favor of any party, then it will inflame the Sikhs there. The Haryana Gurdwara Management Committee has openly declared its support to the Congress in the elections. This has dealt a blow to both INLD and BJP. The Sikh electorate in the state is 7 per cent. Kurukshetra, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Sirsa 19 assembly constituencies of districts where the key to victory lies in the hands of Sikh voters. . Therefore his role in this election cannot be ignored. ,