CHANDIGARH: A showdown between Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Haryanvi counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda Governments is on the cards, with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) deciding to convene a Panthak convention at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on July 27 against the Haryana Government’s move to set up a separate panel to manage gurdwaras in the state.
The Haryana Assembly had on Friday passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014, which got the assent of the Haryana Governor on Monday.
Meanwhile, Haryana Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala has shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking him to take back the letter seeking withdrawal of the Governor’s nod.
Quoting the core committee resolution, SAD general secretary Harcharan Singh Bains said, “The SAD today (on Saturday) decided to hold a Vishal Panthic Ikath (Massive Panthic Conference) of Sikhs from all over the world on July 27 at Manji Hall in Golden Temple, Amritsar, to chalk out the programme to fight the assault on Sikh religion, religious institutions and the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, by the Congress Government in Haryana headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.”
He said an attack on Sikh religion and sacred institutions would never be tolerated, and expressed satisfaction over the action taken by the Centre so far.