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Tuesday's SGPC meeting will seal Tohra's fate

At least 140 of the 185 Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee members left for Amritsar, escorted in a bus by senior Shiromani Akali Dal leaders, to attend tomorrow's crucial general house meeting of the SGPC.

The agenda before the general house is the no-confidence motion against president Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

Chief Minister and Shiromani Akal Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal is also expected to attend tomorrow's meeting, senior party leader and Punjab minister of state for irrigation Sikander Singh Maluka said.

''The general house meeting of SGPC is traditionally attended by the SAD president as well, whether he or she is member of the SGPC or not,'' he said.

''More than two-thirds of the 185 members have already expressed their no-confidence in Tohra's presidentship and authorised Badal to elect the new SGPC chief,'' he said.

Though the Badal camp has not yet decided on the successor to Tohra, SGPC vice- president Kewal Singh Badal is likely to be elevated and made officiating chief of the institution.

He would be asked to hold the post till November when the annual elections of the SGPC office-bearers and executive committee members take place.

The other names being considered for the post are veteran Akali leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi, general secretary Balbir Singh Pannu and Punjab tourism minister Bibi Jagir Kaur.

However, the final decision would be taken by chief minister and Akali Dal-Badal chief Parkash Singh Badal and his supporters in the SGPC tomorrow, prior to the commencement of the meeting.

Besides the 103 members who took the initiative to call tomorrow's meeting, another 35-40 members are also expected to attend the meeting to express their solidarity with Badal, highly- placed Akali sources said.

Besides removing Tohra, the SGPC general house would definitely sack the acting president Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, secretary Surjit Singh and the three executive members -- Kuldip Kaur, Surjit Singh Cheema and Gurvinder Singh Shampura, who along with Tohra and Bhaur had refused to endorse the 'suspension' of Bhai Ranjit Singh as Akal Takht Jathedar and appointment of Giani Puran Singh as acting jathedar.

According to Akali sources, SGPC general secretary Balbir Singh Pannu is likely to table the no-confidence motion against Tohra.

The charges against Tohra would include sabotaging the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations, misusing the Akal Takht for vested interests and making an effort to topple the democratically elected ''Panthic'' government of Badal.

Tohra, who became president of the SGPC in January 1973 after the death of Sant Chanan Singh and remained a parallel centre of power in Akali politics, had appealed to all the SGPC members to vote according to their conscience at tomorrow's meeting.

But this appeal is not be likely to have any effect on the Badal camp which is determined to oust him. In his letter of appeal, Tohra had accused Badal of being ''anti-Panthic'' and ''denigrating'' the Akal Takht by disobeying the December 31 hukamnama of the Takht which called for a ceasefire between the Badal and Tohra camps till April 15.

Though Tohra had called a general house meeting on March 22 following the notice given to him by the Badal camp on February 16 to discuss the no-confidence motion, the Badal supporters fixed March 16 as date of the meeting.

Deputy commissioner Narinderjit Singh would also be present at the meeting tomorrow for which elaborate security arrangements have been made. The SGPC employees who had not extended any cooperation to the Badal camp in the February 10 meeting of the executive are expected to cooperate tomorrow.

UNI

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