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Fremont poll campaign peaks, change
imminent
WSN Network
 FREMONT:
As the hectic
activity in the elections to the Supreme Council of Gurdwara Sahib,
Fremont, reaches a crescendo, the victory of the common slate of the
Sadh Sangat and the United Sikh Alliance increasingly seems to be a
foregone conclusion. Mainly, four factions are in the arena to elect
five members of the Supreme Council. The campaigning has moved into
top gear for the March 9 balloting and though all the players are
making claims about their standing, political analysts and neutral
observers opine that in the current circumstances, the united slate
of the Sadh Sangat and the United Sikh Alliance is carrying the day.
One major reason is that the other three slates have a common voter
base and that vote is likely to be split three-way.
An interesting
aspect is that those who won the last two elections have now
themselves split into two slates of Bhai Ram Singh and Bhai Gurmeet
Singh and are now arraigned against each other. After winning the
elections two years back and getting the term of the Supreme Council
increased from one year to two years, the group led by Bhai Ram
Singh and his associates had forced Bhai Gurmeet Singh to resign.
Consequently, both are targeting each other. Not only that but even
some other office bearers of the managing committee led by Bhai Ram
Singh are also fighting as a separate faction. Thus the Gurmeet
Singh-Ram Singh group that had carried the day in the last elections
has now atrophied into three factions.
 The Bhai
Jaswinder Singh Jandi group which had fought as the Sadh Sangat
slate last time has associated itself with two major groups — United
Sikhs and Sevadar Group — thus bringing together three powerful
sides under one umbrella. Notably, the Hardev Singh Grewal group was
a major component
of the United Sikhs while people like Nirmal Singh Baath who worked
tirelessly for langar were in the Sevadar Group.
Besides, this
faction is attracting support from all Panthic organisations, Akali
Dal factions, social and political forums, literary sabhas and
cultural organisations. Except for a few supporters of Akali Dal
(Mann), rest all Akalis and those who remained in the forefront of
the Sikh struggle are working overtime to ensure the victory of Sadh
Sangat slate. What has boosted the morale of many is the support for
Sadh Sangat slate-United Sikhs alliance expressed by eight of the 12
former presidents of the Gurughar.Of these, Ajit Singh Chatha,
Hardev Singh Grewal, Balbir Singh Ragi, Bhajan Singh Bhinder, Avtar
Singh Dhami, Nirmal Singh Baath, Hardev Singh Bhalwan and Jaswinder
Singh Jandi (who is himslef fighting the election) are not only
extending support but fully involved in the election campaign. Two
former presidents are backing Bhai Ram Singh while another two are
supporting Bhai Gurmeet Singh’s slate. Bhai Surinder Singh’s slate
is bereft of the support of any former president.
Of the major
issues that have emerged on top of the poll agenda, concern the
hundred acre land piece on the hills opposite the Gurughar, the debt
of lakhs of dollars incurred by the Gurughar, the infighting among
the incumbent managers and the efforts to torpedo the case of
political asylum of the granthis of the Gurughar who were turned out
in the middle of the night. As per the laws governing Fremont city,
no construction can take place on the hilly land acquired by the
gurdwara but the incumbent team continued to befool the sangat on
this issue. This huge debt, much of which was spent on acquiring the
land, has become an albatross around Bhai Ram Singh faction’s neck.
 On the other
hand, the Sadh Sangat slate people, quoting facts and figures, have
totally nullified the allegations levelled by Gurcharan Singh Mann
on the previous committee of Bhai Jaswinder Singh Jandi. The Sadh
Sangat slate succeeded in putting a huge question mark on the
propaganda of Gurcharan Mann by presenting the documents submitted
by the Receiver to the Court, the judgement of the court and the
evidence of the new committee receiving all these documents. Bhai
Jandi’s faction maintained that if there were bungling of a single
penny in the accounts then the court would not have allowed the
return of US $8 lakh worth of bonds.
5
March 2008
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