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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Union minister and son of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) president Parkash Singh Badal, has demanded the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for allegedly sending the police inside the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar on Monday.
Badal alleged to rediff.com in New Delhi that Singh was hand-in-glove with former prime minister Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1984 when the latter sent in the army to flush out terrorists from the temple complex.
"He had resigned in protest against sending in the army into the temple complex during Operation Blue Star. Now, he has sent the police into the temple complex on the pretext of providing security to officials of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandkhak Committee. He should immediately resign from his office, owning the moral responsibility," he said.
He claimed that Parkash Singh Badal has the support of 107 SGPC members in a house of 170.
He paraded 98 SGPC members, including 21 women, before journalists at Hotel Centaur in Delhi on Monday morning.
"You can count them, if you want. The basic purpose to bring them before you [media] is to prove that Sardar Parkash Singh Badal group has majority in the SGPC. Till now we have been holding SGPC elections every year, but never before this kind of situation has arisen wherein section 144 was imposed in the entire state and barricades were set up in and around the temple complex and pilgrims were prevented from entering the Golden Temple," he said.
Kiranjit Kaur, SGPC member and general secretary of the SAD (Badal) said the members had no option but to seek refuge in Badal's farmhouse in Balasar in Sirsa district of Haryana so that they could escape being arrested.
"There is no question of SGPC members being held hostage by Badal and his men. We owe our allegiance to him and we would vote for the SAD (Badal) nominee for the presidentship of SGPC," she told said.
ALSO SEE: High court grants stay on ex-SGPC chief Bibi Kaur's arrest
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