Voters' enrolment deadline for SGPC poll ends today

GS Paul

Amritsar, November 14

The enrolment for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) general poll, deadline for which is November 15, has received a tepid response.

Maximum in Ludhiana

• Till November 10, Ludhiana received maximum applications (18,928)
• Least number of applications (585) received in SBS Nagar

According to Gurdwara Election Commission, the eligible aspirants can submit their applications between October 21 and November 15.

One of the reasons for the lukewarm response was said to be the condition that the applicant had to appear in person to deposit the Form-1 meant for the voters’ registration.

In Amritsar, only 12,852 applications were received till November 13, including 10,317 under general category, and 2,535 under Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

Till November 10, Ludhiana received the maximum number of 18,928 applications received whereas the least number of applications were received at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar where only 585 votes were registered.

In Hoshiapur, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami’s district, only 6,994 applicants deposited their forms.

Similarly, Bathinda received 14,317 forms followed by Sangrur 11,586, Moga 9514, Tarn Taran 7,019; Hoshiarpur 6,994, Barnala 5,327, Gursdaspur 4,759, Faridkot 4,714, Mansa 3,381, Muktsar Sahib 3,214, Pathankot 2,808, Roopnagar 2,758, Kapurthala 1,993, Mohali 1,937; Fazilka 1,911 and Jalandhar 648.

Many Sikh organizations, including the SGPC, have demanded the Gurdwara Election Commission to simplify the process and also extend the enrollment span.

SGPC member Kiranjot Kaur said numerous applicants didn’t had the clarity of the wards they belonged to, post delimitation.

“In 2011, between 50,000 and 55,000 votes were registered in Amritsar (West). Now, this count (till November 10) was just 1,248 (2.5 per cent). Besides extending the voter registration span, the administrations of all districts should be directed to train officials to guide the applicants properly,” she said.

Manjit Singh from Amritsar (west) said, “I belonged to Ward No. 67 which comes under Amritsar (West), but my form was not accepted at the PUDA Centre and I was asked to go to Kesri Bagh.” “Earlier, the gurdwara committees used to visit us to complete the formalities,” he said.