Bibi Jagir Kaur elected SGPC chief third time

Amritsar, Nov 27 (IANS) Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bibi Jagir Kaur was on Friday elected as President of the cash-rich Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for the third time.She replaced Gobind Singh Longowal, who remained the SGPC chief for three years.Bibi Jagir Kaur was polled 122 votes out of the total 143 at the annual meeting of the SGPC general house held inside the Golden Temple complex here.Earlier, the SGPC members authorised SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal to decide on the appointment of the SGPC President.Earlier, she held this post in 1999 and 2000.In 2000, she had to resign from the post as she was accused of killing her daughter. She was acquitted by Punjab and Haryana High Court in December 2018.The rest of the office-bearers of the SGPC were elected unanimously.Surjeet Bhittewid was elected Senior Vice President, Buta Singh Junior Vice President and Bhagwant Singh Sialka General Secretary.The SGPC, considered a mini-parliament of Sikh religious affairs, has an annual budget of nearly Rs 1,200 crore.The SGPC, which has control over Sikh religious affairs, manages gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, including the holiest of Sikh shrines Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, in Amritsar.
--IANS vg/vd