The Sikh com­mu­nity in Delhi has made a sig­nif­i­cant mark in the re­cently con­cluded Vid­han Sabha elec­tions, se­cur­ing five out of the 70 As­sem­bly seats. This marks a note­wor­thy mo­ment in the city’s po­lit­i­cal land­scape, as Sikh can­di­dates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been elected. While Sikhs have his­tor­i­cally held min­is­te­r­ial po­si­tions in Delhi, this elec­tion stands out due to the ac­tive par­tic­i­pa­tion of the Delhi Sikh Gur­d­wara Man­age­ment Com­mit­tee (DS­GMC) lead­er­ship, which played a cru­cial role in mo­bi­liz­ing the elec­torate. WSN ed­i­tor Jag­mo­han Singh takes stock and hopes that Sikh in­ter­ests will be served.

BHAR­TIYA JANATA PARTY LEADER, HOLIER-THAN-THOU PARTY LOY­AL­IST, known to toe only the party line, even if it means sac­ri­fic­ing Sikh com­mu­nity in­ter­ests—Man­jin­der Singh Sirsa from Ra­jouri Gar­den, turn­coat lead­ers Tar­winder Singh Mar­wah from Jang­pura, and Arvin­der Singh Lovely from Gandhi Na­gar, along­with third-time win­ner Jar­nail Singh from Tilak Na­gar and son of a for­mer Con­gress leader -Pun­dard­eep Singh Sawh­ney from Chandni Chowk, rep­re­sent­ing the Aam Aadmi Party are the new Sikh faces in the 2025 Delhi As­sem­bly. Their vic­to­ries sym­bol­ize Sikh po­lit­i­cal en­gage­ment in the cap­i­tal, but they also bring a set of ex­pec­ta­tions from the com­mu­nity that ex­tend be­yond party lines.

A His­toric Po­lit­i­cal En­gage­ment

This elec­tion wit­nessed an un­prece­dented level of Sikh elec­toral par­tic­i­pa­tion, with strong back­ing from DS­GMC lead­ers. This proac­tive in­volve­ment, while lead­ing to elec­toral suc­cess, has also sparked de­bates about the ex­tent to which Sikh in­sti­tu­tions should en­gage in main­stream pol­i­tics. His­tor­i­cally, there has been re­sis­tance to the DS­GM­C’s role in elec­tions, but the re­sults sug­gest that this par­tic­i­pa­tion may be here to stay.

How­ever, while Sikh vot­ers have en­abled these vic­to­ries, an im­por­tant ques­tion lingers: Will these elected rep­re­sen­ta­tives ad­vo­cate for Sikh is­sues be­yond their gen­eral con­stituency re­spon­si­bil­i­ties? Sikh con­cerns, rang­ing from Gur­d­wara gov­er­nance to the pend­ing DS­GMC elec­tions, re­main un­re­solved.

The en­tan­gle­ment of BJP and AAP in a long-stand­ing power strug­gle in Delhi, par­tic­u­larly be­tween the Chief Min­is­ter and the Lieu­tenant Gov­er­nor, has al­ready de­layed the DS­GMC elec­tions. With the BJP at the helm, at the Cen­tre and in Delhi, the com­mu­nity is watch­ing closely to see if the DS­GMC elec­tions will be con­ducted fairly and trans­par­ently.

The en­tan­gle­ment of BJP and AAP in a long-stand­ing power strug­gle in Delhi, par­tic­u­larly be­tween the Chief Min­is­ter and the Lieu­tenant Gov­er­nor, has al­ready de­layed the DS­GMC elec­tions. With the BJP at the helm, at the Cen­tre and in Delhi, the com­mu­nity is watch­ing closely to see if the DS­GMC elec­tions will be con­ducted fairly and trans­par­ently.

Con­cerns Over BJP’s In­flu­ence on Sikh Af­fairs

A sec­tion of the com­mu­nity fears that the BJP’s in­creas­ing pres­ence in Sikh po­lit­i­cal af­fairs, par­tic­u­larly through the DS­GMC, could lead to greater in­ter­fer­ence in Gur­d­wara man­age­ment. Man­jin­der Singh Sirsa, a promi­nent BJP leader and for­mer DS­GMC pres­i­dent, is ex­pected to play a piv­otal role in shap­ing Sikh af­fairs in the cap­i­tal. His track record in fudg­ing facts, dis­tort­ing Sikh his­tory and en­dors­ing the party line, notwith­stand­ing the views of the Sikh com­mu­nity, like the cel­e­bra­tion of Bal Veer Di­was is too well-known and raises the hack­les of the Pan­thic Sikh lead­er­ship.

A sec­tion of the com­mu­nity fears that the BJP’s in­creas­ing pres­ence in Sikh po­lit­i­cal af­fairs, par­tic­u­larly through the DS­GMC, could lead to greater in­ter­fer­ence in Gur­d­wara man­age­ment.

Sim­i­larly, Arvin­der Singh Lovely, dur­ing his tenure as a Con­gress party leg­is­la­tor and min­is­ter is known for his in­volve­ment in in­tro­duc­ing re­stric­tive amend­ments to the Delhi Sikh Gur­d­wara Act dur­ing his tenure as Min­is­ter of Gur­d­wara Elec­tions, has raised con­cerns about whether his poli­cies will align with Sikh in­ter­ests.

On the other hand, AAP’s Jar­nail Singh, a three-time MLA, is seen as the par­ty’s Sikh face in Delhi. His role as the Prab­hari of Pun­jab and Chandi­garh po­si­tions him as an in­flu­en­tial fig­ure, though dur­ing his two tenures, he has not taken any steps to re­solve long-pend­ing is­sues of Sikh res­i­dents in Delhi.

Tal­winder Singh Mar­wah rep­re­sents the voice of the Ramgharia sec­tion of the Sikh com­mu­nity and whether he will em­brace the com­mu­ni­ty’s in­ter­ests or not, we will have to wait and watch.

Com­mu­nity Ex­pec­ta­tions from Elected Rep­re­sen­ta­tives

While the Sikh com­mu­nity has show­cased its po­lit­i­cal strength, the true chal­lenge for these five elected rep­re­sen­ta­tives lies in bal­anc­ing party pol­i­tics with Sikh con­cerns to en­sure this his­toric vic­tory brings tan­gi­ble ben­e­fits to the com­mu­nity.

Be­yond elec­toral vic­to­ries, the Sikh cit­i­zenry of Delhi is minutely ob­serv­ing whether their rep­re­sen­ta­tives will pri­or­i­tize is­sues that af­fect the com­mu­nity -DS­GMC elec­tions, Jus­tice for 1984 vic­tims, preser­va­tion of Sikh iden­tity, con­serv­ing Pun­jabi lan­guage and em­ploy­ment and en­tre­pre­neur­ship op­por­tu­ni­ties for Sikh youth.

The Road Ahead

While the Sikh com­mu­nity has demon­strated its po­lit­i­cal strength, the real test for these five elected rep­re­sen­ta­tives lies ahead. Their abil­ity to nav­i­gate party pol­i­tics while ad­dress­ing Sikh con­cerns will de­ter­mine whether this mo­men­tous elec­tion trans­lates into real ben­e­fits for the com­mu­nity.

For now, the com­mu­nity watches and waits, hope­ful yet cau­tious about what lies ahead for Sikh rep­re­sen­ta­tion in Del­hi’s leg­isla­tive cor­ri­dors.