Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday announced the SAD would contest the Haryana Gurdwara Management elections and appealed to the Sikh ‘sangat’ to free the gurdwaras from the clutches of the modern day Mahants who had taken over their control with the connivance of the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Addressing a press conference, the SAD president said the party would contest the elections on its symbol. “Our focus is on giving Sikhs in Haryana the right to have their own Gurdwara Committee besides freeing them from the present Committee which is indulging in free for all fights and abuses in official meetings which is against all principles and norms.”

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He also appealed to Sikhs in Haryana to enroll themselves as voters in large numbers so as to restore the pride of the Panth in their State in the forthcoming gurdwara polls.

Badal, who was briefing newsmen about the issues discussed in the party’s core committee today, said “the SAD is of the firm belief that the recent floods in Punjab are a man-made tragedy and that chief minister Bhagwant Mann is responsible for the same”.

He said the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann failed to take any flood control prevention meeting before the onset of the monsoons.

“He (CM) also failed to regulate the release of flood waters from the Bhakra and Pong dams and later when large parts of Punjab were inundated he fled to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to participate in election programmes of Aam Aadmi Party along with his boss Arvind Kejriwal. This resulted in a loss of Rs 10,000 crore with paddy crop being destroyed in seven lakh acres of land,” the SAD chief said.

Badal also demanded a fair compensation for flood hit farmers and labourers asserting the Rs 186 Crore compensation released by the government was akin to sprinkling salt on the wounds of the farming community.

He said AAP had promised to give interim relief for crop damage before the conduct of girdawari but had failed to do so for three failed crops already.

“Following flooding in Punjab, the chief minister promised to release compensation till August 15 but indulged in a publicity gimmick by distributing a few cheques which had Rs 40,000 printed on their envelopes but were actually for Rs 4,000 only,” Badal said.