Badal puts on hold Sikh congregation to challenge Haryana govt.

"We will obey Akal Takht, we have to follow their directions. Our workers were on their way to the venue but they are now been asked to stop,"  Badal, who is also the President of the Akali Dal, told NDTV.

Akal Takht had earlier directed all the Sikh bodies to not hold congregations, especially owing to the communal clashes in Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress-led Haryana government run by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab led by Badal locked horns over the issue of passing legislation for a separate Gurudwara management committee for Haryana.

The Akali Dal government also asked the Centre to intervene into the issue to prevent the legislation for a separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) from being implemented.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had threatened to quit at a rally on July 27 if the Act is not withdrawn. Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that Haryana had gone against the constitution and against national integration.

Unperturbed with debate, Hooda government in Haryana earlier declined to back off on the issue.

The HSGPC has been constituted under the Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Act, 2014. It will continue to hold charge and manage the affairs of all the gurudwaras in Haryana until a new committee is elected as provided for in the Act.

The Haryana government already has nominated 41 members of the Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee to look after the assets, both movable and immovable properties, of the gurudwaras in the state.