SGPC seeks voters' registration in transparent manner for its polls

Chandigarh, Aug 13 (PTI) A delegation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Tuesday met chief commissioner for gurdwara elections Justice (retired) S S Saron, demanding the registration of eligible Sikh voters for the SGPC general elections in a transparent matter.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, who was leading the delegation, submitted a letter to Saron. He asked him to seriously take notice of "wrong SGPC votes being registered without verification by government officials during the ongoing registration process while ignoring the rules." Dhami said complaints are coming from community members from various constituencies of Punjab that the government officials are allegedly "ignoring" the prescribed rules for voter registration for gurdwara elections.

"Government employees are registering votes while ignoring the rules by picking up names from the voter lists of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, with which there is a strong apprehension of violation of condition of being a 'Sabat Soorat' (with unshorn hair) Sikh," said Dhami in a statement.

He demanded that strict orders should be issued immediately by the election chief commissioner to ensure that no non-Sikh and 'Patit' (not maintaining the required Sikh identity) vote is registered.

It is the primary duty of the gurdwara elections chief commissioner to ensure voter registration as per the rules for the management of the SGPC, and the commission should give utmost attention to the objections and concerns of the community.

Through the letter to the chief commissioner, it was also demanded that orders should be given to ensure proper access to the voter registration process for Sikh and 'Sabat Soorat' voters and verification of the identity of each voter, besides attaching the latest photo with the registration form. PTI CHS RHL