Congress to stay away from Khadoor Sahab byelection

By Vinay Sharma
CHANDIGARH: Congress to stay away from Khadoor Sahab byelection. Party sighted desecration of Guru Granth Sahib as the main reason for staying away from elections. However Shiromani Akali Dal is looking at the byelection as a precursor to the state assembly elections in 2017.

Khadoor Sahab bye-election necessitated after the sacrilege of the Holy Guru Granth Sahib at Bargadi in Kotkpaura, due to which the party MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikki resigned in protest.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Capt Amarinder Singh said, “since the basic issue of the sacrilege of the Holy Guru Granth Sahib, for which Sikki resigned, still remains unresolved, the Congress party decided there was no point in contesting the election”.

However Akalis look at this as an opportunity to downplay the anti -incumbency sentiment after remaining nine years in power.

"SAD victory margin is going to be more then one lakh against any candidate. Captain Amarinder knows it well. Why dont they simply accept the defeat gracefully rathe then giving it a religious hue? " SAD President Sukhbair Badal asks.

Capt Amarinder was accompanied by the AICC Secretary Incharge Harish Chaudhary, senior leaders Laal Singh, Rana Gurjeet Singh, Hardayal Kambhoj .

The PCC president reiterated that it was the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who had first directed the sacrilege of the Holy Guru Granth Sahab in a bid at “controlled destabilisation” to divert the public attention from his failures and subsequently ordered the firing on peaceful protestors which left two persons dead and about 40 injured.

“Not a single person has been identified, leave aside punishing them for the sacrilege nor has any action been taken against the guilty police officials responsible for firing and killing of peaceful protestors”, he pointed out, adding, under these circumstances there was no point in seeking re-election.

The former Chief Minister maintained that the matter must be probed by a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge of the High Court. He said, as Badal was unlikely to do that since he knows the buck will stop at him, the Congress after it forms the government will set up the commission headed by a sitting judge to probe the sacrilege and punish the guilty.

Justifying the boycott, Capt Amarinder said, Sikki resigned for the desecration of the Shri Guru Granth Sahib and the firing at village Bargari in which 2 people were killed, 2 were shot through the spine paralyzing them, one old man having half his hand blown off and one man who was saved because a bullet grazed his forehead. The total number of causalities were 2 dead and 38 injured, he said, adding, Mr Badal announced a commission to go into the desecration of Shri Guru Granth Sahib which was constituted about 3 months ago, the commission has not yet even met and therefore no progress has been made in identifying those responsible.

He pointed out, no investigation is going on into the unprovoked and uncontrolled firing that took place at Bargari on a group of people who were blocking the road and reciting kirtan.

Capt Amarider said, he received a letter from Sikki repeating what has been mentioned earlierand also adding that he had no confidence in the Speaker of the State Assembly who had not bothered to listen to him. He therefore felt that his conscience did not allow him to fight this bye election.

The President PCC said, he agreed with Sikki as he also felt that the desecration of Shri Guru Granth Sahib was an issue which far outweighed politics. “And therefore, I recommended to the Congress President that the Congress party should boycott the Khadoor Sahib Bye Election”, he said.

He said, though the Congress President cleared the name of Sikki, however in view of the grave situation that has engulfed the Sikh community in Punjab because of the sacrilege, she left it to the PCC President to take the final call.