NEW DELHI, JULY 25
The Centre is mulling over options to defuse the situation over the creation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGPC) to prevent any flare-up and the key is the appointment of Kaptan Singh Solanki as the new Governor of Haryana, who will later initiate a review of the Act that created the new body.

The five-year tenure of incumbent Jagannath Pahadia will end on July 26. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed 75-year-old Solanki, who is a senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh and a Rajya Sabha MP. Solanki’s charge will begin from the day he assumes office. The Centre says that the HSGMC set up by the state government through legislation falls in the concurrent list and cannot be enacted by Haryana.

Punjab maintains that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was formed under the Central Gurdwara Act, 1925, during the British rule to manage Sikh shrines that are now located in different states and any change cannot be done unilaterally by one state, a view endorsed by the Centre.

Haryana asserted that it had plenary power to legislate and create such a body, citing provision in the Punjab State Reorganisation Act, and ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the Kashmir Singh versus Union of India case, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010.

With the Centre’s directive to Haryana asking the Governor to withdraw his assent yielding no result, events are expected to unfold once Solanki assumes charge. The new Governor could say the action of his predecessor was not in accordance with law and be reviewed.

Talking to The Tribune, the Governor-designate said he felt honoured to be selected for Haryana, a state of industrious and hardworking people.

Solanki is a keen sports enthusiast, especially kabaddi and kho-kho. Born in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh, he did his post-graduation from Ujjain.

Meanwhile, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today led a delegation of party MPs to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.