A five-member committee constituted by the Akal Takht unanimously elected former Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh as the president of the rebel Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) faction on Monday. The committee also appointed Bibi Satwant Kaur as the chairperson of the Panthak Council.
Around 500 delegates, elected from all over the country under the supervision of the committee comprising rebel Akali leaders, met at Gurdwara Burj Akali Phoola Singh here to take a call on the two appointments.
The committee, constituted by the Akal Takht on December 2 last year to reorganise the SAD, has been entrusted with the task of holding a party membership drive and organisational elections.
After opting out of the race for presidency of the breakaway faction of the SAD, Giani Harpreet Singh later agreed to accept the proposal of the delegates to elect him as party president. It is learnt that he had the backing of a majority of the delegates.
Earlier, Giani Harpreet Singh had posted on the social media that he could not contest the election against slain AISSF leader Amrik Singh’s daughter Satwant Kaur, who was another contender for the top post, saying that she is a respected figure for him.
The committee, comprising Manpreet Singh Ayali, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Iqbal Singh Jhoonda, Santa Singh Umaidpuri and Satwant Kaur, was divided over the election to the party president’s post. While a section of the committee members wanted Giani Harpreet Singh to be elected to the top position, others were in favour of Satwant Kaur.
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