Kurukshetra: Ahead of Haryana Assembly elections, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is trying hard to woo the Sikh vote bank in the state where one of the significant vote share comes from over 10 lakh Sikhs. Earlier in the year, the state government had passed a bill creating a separate Gurudwara Management committee taking away power from the Amritsar based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the SGPC say the Bill is an attempt to divide the Sikhs to win votes. But in rural Haryana, the Sikhs say the Bill will benefit to them. "Now Gurudwara money will stay in Haryana, and will help Sikhs in Haryana. When a government does something for us, then we will support them," a Sikh farmer Jarnail Singh said.
While the Bill has been passed, the Haryana SGPC has not yet been able to take control of all Gurdwaras in Haryana. The Bill is likely to bring some change in the votes.
However, there are also some Sikh voters who are not impressed with the Bill. "Where were they all these years? We wanted this long ago. They have done it only now, just for votes. We won't vote for them, just because they passed this Bill," says Kashmir Singh Shadipur a Haryana resident.
The creation of a separate SGPC for the Sikhs in Haryana has been one of the biggest controversies in the state in 2014. It is to be seen whether the passing of the legislation will really have an effect in the elections in Haryana.
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