No plans to float new party if ousted from SGPC, says Tohra

NEW DELHI, JAN 16: Senior Akali leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra today said he would not float a new party even if his detractors chose to re...

NEW DELHI, JAN 16: Senior Akali leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra today said he would not float a new party even if his detractors chose to remove him from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) presidentship and blocked induction of his loyalist Prem Singh Chandumajra into the Union Cabinet.In a chat with newspersons here, Tohra who has been the president of the SGPC for the past 25 years, said he would not quit the Akali Dal with which he had been associated for the past six decades.

Speculations are rife in the Akali Dal that Tohra who has been marginalised in the ongoing Badal-Tohra feud, both in the SGPC and the party, will form a party parallel to the ruling one.

On other hand, Tohra said the Akali-BJP coalition would complete its full five-year term. He said he was morally bound to honour the people’s mandate two years ago in favour of the joint leadership of Badal and Tohra.

Story continues below this ad

Meanwhile, Akali sources said in a bid to "torpedo" the possible induction of Chandumajra, Lok Sabha MP fromPatiala, into the Union Cabinet, Badal proposed the name of a Rajya Sabha MP for the ministerial berth.

Later, on Thursday, Badal’s close ally and party general secretary Sukhdev Singh Dhinsa issued a press statement saying the Akalis would boycott the Union Cabinet expansion to protest non-acceptance of their demand to exlude the Udham Singh Nagar district from the proposed hill state of Uttrakhand.Earlier this week, Tohra, who was here for two days to plead with the Home Ministry and the American Embassy to reissue a visitor’s visa to Akal Takht chief Ranjit Singh, also lobbied for Chandumajra’s entry into the Union Cabinet.

The SGPC chief said that he had merely suggested to Badal that he should appoint a working president of the party as Badal was not able to spare time for party workers who were getting disenchanted with the party high command. Tohra said this suggestion was blown out of proportion by some non-Akali personalities close to Badal for their vested interests, he added. Tohra said he waswilling to go to "political exile" if Badal asks him to. He reiterated that he would abide by the Akal Takht hukamnama (religious edict) asking the warring Akali factions to maintain truce till April 15.

Deliberating at length on the hukamnama which is being interpreted as a move in his favour, Tohra said opposing the Akal Takht meant opposing the sikh panth, sikh traditions and dividing the sikhs. This would never be tolerated by the faithful in the long-run, he said. The Badal camp followers and 10 of the 15 SGPC executive members have already appealed to the Akal Takht Jathedar to withdraw the hukamnama, perceived by them as a hurdle in taking "disciplinary action" against Tohra. The sources said the Badal camp had initiated a plan to remove Tohra from SGPC presidentship and the Akal Takht Jathedar, an SGPC appointee, from his position. At present, Badal enjoys a thumping majority among the Akali MLAs, party leaders and SGPC members who had already empowered the CM to take decisions in matters relatingto the Khalsa birth celebrations and other political matters.