The Paramjit Singh Sarna-led SAD (Delhi) now stands reduced to a mere eight seats in the powerful 46-member Sikh body that directly controls 10 historical gurdwaras in the city, besides other educational and religious institutions. The group had 27 members in the outgoing committee.
SAD (Badal) rode the wave, bagging 37 seats in Sunday's polls that saw a mere 42.4% of Sikh voters come out to vote.
CM Sheila Dikshit refused to accept that the elections could impact assembly polls in the city later this year. "This was an election to a religious body. We have nothing to do with it except for conducting the polls through the city's directorate of gurdwaras," Dikshit told TOI.
The BJP, in contrast, was thrilled with the results as the party seeks to bolster its control over the Sikh vote ahead of the state elections.
There are 4.15 lakh Sikh voters registered with the gurdwara directorate in Delhi. Even the low turnout paved the ground for change. Not only did voters shunt out Akali Dal (Delhi), outgoing Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna lost his Punjabi Bagh seat with the election's biggest margin of 4,454 votes. His opponent was SAD (Badal)'s Manjinder Singh.
What made the defeat more glaring was the impressive winning margin of SAD (Badal) state president Manjeet Singh GK in Greater Kailash. GK won by 3,457 votes, the second highest of the election. His opponent, Gurpreet Singh of SAD (Delhi), could manage just 162 votes.
Another result that drew attention was the victory of Tarvinder Singh Marwah, a sitting Congress MLA from Jangpura and former parliamentary secretary to the chief minister.
Although Congress's enrollment rules do not allow members to contest any religious polls, he ran as a candidate of the Kendriya Shri Guru Singh Sabha and won from Defence Colony with a margin of 1,751 votes.
Marwah has reportedly been in rebellious mood ever since he was sacked as parliamentary secretary after he allegedly got his daughter admitted to a Delhi University college on forged documents. Marwah's win reflects %growing turf wars between Sikh politicians who see the votebank as critical to keep themselves relevant in their parties.
Soon after counting started on Wednesday morning, Akali Dal (Badal) stole a lead over SAD (Delhi). The gap widened as the day wore on and the Badal camp soon began celebrations at Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal's official residence in New Delhi even before the final results were declared.
For Paramjit Singh Sarna, who been a close ally of the Congress in Delhi and has been open about his closeness with minister Arvinder Singh, the poll results could spell the end of the road. Sarna told TOI that his group's fight was against the ruling party in Punjab, many of whose leaders had been camping in Delhi for %the polls.
"These elections were won through money power," Sarna asserted. SAD(Delhi) first won the election under Sarna in 2002. This trend was reinforced in his second tenure from 2007.
Meanwhile, the Congress and its lone Sikh minister, Arvinder Singh, distanced themselves from the results. Arvinder Singh, who is also the minister in-charge of gurdwara elections, told TOI. "We don't see how the results will impact Congress in the assembly polls. This was a religious election and the Congress as a policy is not part of it. None of the Congress leaders campaigned for SAD (Delhi) candidates," he said.
After the victory, SAD (Badal) state president Manjeet Singh GK said that this was a vote against growing mismanagement of schools, hospitals and corruption in the DSGMC. He admitted that the support of Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, the deputy chief minister and minister from the state had reinforced the faith of the city's Sikhs in SAD (Badal). "The Sikhs here know that the Badals are not just confined to Punjab," he added.
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