Sonia asks Hooda not to press for SGPC

Some Congress MPs from Punjab were also learnt to have met senior party leaders and apprised them of the “sentiments” of people in the state. “We conveyed our sentiments to the High Command and also Rahulji that this issue has dangerous potentials for a border state like ours,especially given its recent history,” a young Congress MP told The Indian Express on Friday.

Congress sources said that although Sonia was supportive of Hooda and “saw through” Shiromani Akali Dal’s “politics” on this issue,she did not want to send any wrong signals in Punjab. “It could open up many old wounds if the Congress is seen or projected as meddling in the religious affairs of the Sikh community in Punjab,” said a senior leader from Punjab.

Another section of the Congress is,however,supportive of Hooda’s moves. “If the SGPC (in Punjab) remained non-political and acted like a religious body,one could have understood its objections. But,the fact is,they act like an extension of the SAD. What is wrong if Sikhs of Haryana want to create their own SGPC?” asked Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa.

The Congress High Command was said to be wary of politicizing what is essentially a religious issue. “Hooda is taking a legal opinion on this issue right now. His problem is he had promised it in the election manifesto. He cannot backtrack on it just before the elections. We have to see how we can satisfy the Sikhs in Haryana without hurting the sentiments of those in Punjab. But I don’t think SGPC is happening in Haryana right now,” confided a senior Congress leader here.