Badungar appointed SGPC president

Amritsar : Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar was appointed the 41st president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee at the Sikh body’s general house meeting here on Saturday.He replaces Avtar Singh Makkar whose one-year term ended on Saturday. There was some opposition to his name by a few members who had proposed the name of Surjit Singh Kalhapura. But the matter was resolved after Kolhapura withdrew his candidature.However, Kalhapura was included in the 11-member executive body of the SGPC. Badungar’s name was proposed by Cabinet Minister Tota Singh and seconded by former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur. The election of the office-bearers took place amidst the chanting of ‘Bole so nihal’ at the Teja Singh Samundari Hall.This is for the second time that Badungar was elected president of the Sikh body. He was elected the 32nd president in 2001.