The internal rift within the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) deepened on Tuesday as a crucial General House meeting, intended to resolve pending administrative and budget issues, was postponed at the last moment due to a lack of quorum.
The meeting, scheduled to take place in Kurukshetra, faced an immediate hurdle when several members failed to appear, following a boycott call by a dissenting faction. While HSGMC President Jagdish Singh Jhinda officially attributed the deferment to “personal reasons” cited by a few key members—including a representative from Sirsa and the General Secretary—dissenting leaders claimed the postponement was a strategic admission that the leadership no longer commands a majority.
The Quorum Conflict The core of the dispute lies in the legal requirement for a two-thirds majority (33 members in the 49-member House) to fulfill a quorum. President Jhinda has recently appealed to the Haryana Chief Minister to amend the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Act, arguing that the two-thirds requirement is “misplaced” for routine administrative matters and is being “misused” by dissenters to stall development.
Legal and Financial Implications The postponement comes at a critical time for the committee:
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Budget Standoff: Dissenting members, led by Senior Vice-President Gurmeet Singh, have challenged the legality of the annual budget, alleging it was previously passed without a valid quorum.
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Missing Evidence: The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission recently sought CCTV footage of the January budget meetings to verify attendance. However, Kurukshetra police cyber experts reported that the footage is unavailable due to “limited storage and automatic overwriting” on the DVRs.
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Stalled Projects: Due to the ongoing legal row, the commission has restricted the HSGMC from making capital expenditures. This has halted major projects, including the construction of a Sarai (inn) in Amritsar and the expansion of educational and healthcare facilities in Haryana.
Dissenting members, including co-opted member Baljit Singh Daduwal, alleged that the meeting’s hidden agenda was to remove executive members who oppose the current leadership. They have now signaled their intent to move the Judicial Commission to seek the President’s resignation on moral grounds.
The meeting has been rescheduled for February 18, though tensions remain high as both factions refuse to back down.
