In the backdrop of the announcement of separate SGPC for Haryana, the Monsoon Session of Haryana Assembly, the last for the Bhupinder Singh Hooda Government, beginning on Friday, is expected to be a stormy affair.
Main Opposition Indian National lok Dal has said it will oppose any move of the ruling Congress to create a separate SGPC for the State. Apart from former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala-led INlD, the Bharatiya Janata Party too is opposing the move to carve out a separate SGPC. Due to the expected pressure from the Opposition, the Government has squeezed the dates of the session and it is expected to last two days.
The Bill to form a separate SGPC will be introduced in the Assembly session commencing from July 11 and the separate body will be set up as a legal entity, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said.The Opposition parties have claimed that the Congress is eyeing Sikh votes as Haryana goes to polls in October.INlD's senior leader and State unit chief Ashok Arora claimed that the Congress, after receiving a drubbing in the parliamentary polls, was staring at another defeat in the upcoming Assembly polls and was now trying to divide the Sikhs for narrow political gains. The INlD leader said his party does not believe in meddling in the religious affairs of any community and they will oppose any move on separate SGPC.
The State unit of the BJP has also criticised the Congress for meddling in the religious affairs of the Sikhs. BJP MlA Anil Vij said, the Congress is playing with the sentiments of Sikh community, which is wrong. "We are taking legal opinion on the issue and whether the State Government is entitled to place this Bill in the State Assembly or not", said Vij.
He said the ruling Congress has mala-fide intention in this case; because it didn't even talk about it in its one-decade rule in the State and Centre and now when the Assembly elections are in October, it has started working on it. "let the Sikh community solve the issue. We should not politicise it", said Vij.Hooda's announcement of a separate SGPC for the State drew flak from INlD, BJP, Amritsar-based SGPC, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and other political and religious outfits.
At a function organised by Sikh leaders from Haryana at Kaithal on Sunday, Hooda had said a separate SGPC will be set up keeping in view the sentiments and aspirations of the Sikhs in his State and a law will be enacted to form the separate panel.Meanwhile, Hooda met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday to discuss the political situation in the State ahead of the Assembly polls, scheduled in October this year.
After the party's rout in the recent General Assembly elections, there was much speculation of a revamp of the State leadership. Senior Congress leader Birender Singh had recently spoken out against Hooda's leadership in the State and had blamed him for the poll debacle. Singh also said that he would not contest the upcoming Assembly elections under the leadership of Hooda.In the lok Sabha elections, the Congress managed to win just one of the 10 seats in Haryana whereas rivals BJP won seven seats and INlD two. The lone Congress winner in the state was Hooda's son Deepender Hooda who managed to retain his lok Sabha seat from Rohtak.
Despite the massive defeat of Congress, Party leaders are hopeful that the voting pattern would not be the same for the Assembly elections and Congress will manage to put up a better showing that its performance in the lok Sabha elections.