Former Punjab state assemblyman Gobind Singh Longowal has been elected as the 42nd president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
At the meeting of its general house in Amritsar yesterday (29 Nov 2017), Longowal easily fended off a challenge from Amrik Singh Shahpur from Dera Baba Nanak who campaigned under the Panthic Front, gaining 154 of the 169 votes casted.
Longowal, a former Dhuri Member of Legastivw Assembly (MLA), replaces Kirpal Singh Badungar who took over in 2016 Avtar Singh Makkar.
The three-time MLA and a minister in the Badal Cabinet was among 40 leaders awarded ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) by Akal Takht for visiting Dera Sacha Sauda ahead of assembly elections.
The adopted son of the late Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, he won the Dhuri byelection in 2015, defeating Congress-Sanjha Morcha candidate Simar Partap Singh, grandson of Surjit Singh Barnala. Longowal’s wife is a schoolteacher and younger sister Dr Inderjeet Kaur is the chairperson of the All-India Pingalwara Society, reports The Tribune.
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