Punjab MLA resigns as chairman of Conware amid row over missing saroops

Banga MLA Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi on Sunday announced that he was resigning as the chairman of the Punjab State Container and Warehousing Corporation (Conware) and relinquishing his Cabinet rank, saying he was hurt after doubts were raised about Rasokhana Shri Nabh Kanwal Raja Sahib Gurdwara.

The resignation by Kumar, who had switched from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to AAP in 2024, came days after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had said that 169 sacred copies of the Guru Granth Sahib had been recovered by the Punjab Police’s special investigation team at the gurdwara during the probe into the 328 missing saroops (sacred copies) of the Sikh holy book.

“Of the 169 saroops found from a religious place near Banga in Nawanshahr, 139 have no official record. Only 30 ‘saroops’ have a record...,” Mann had said while addressing a gathering during the Maghi Mela in Muktsar on January 14.

However, the management of the Rasokhana Shri Nabh Kanwal Raja Sahib gurdwara had countered the claims of the CM, claiming that all saroops were accounted for.

Kumar is a two-time Akali MLA. He is facing a disqualification plea for defecting from the SAD to the AAP. The Bhagwant Mann government had appointed him the chairperson of the Conware last year. He was also given the status of Cabinet rank.

In a video message on Facebook on Sunday, Kumar said he was hurt after some doubts were raised towards the gurdwara in Nawanshahr.

“I have been coming here (the shrine) to seek the blessings of Raja Sahib. I feel that some doubts were raised towards the Darbar (the shrine) a few days ago that the bhog of ‘Akhand Path Sahib’ was not performed as per ‘maryada’ (religious code) and saroops (of the Guru Granth Sahib) here were not as per maryada.

“This has hurt the sentiments of the sangat (devotees), including my own... For me, this (shrine) is the home of God,” he said.