New Delhi: A new law enacted by the provincial Haryana government is threatening to strain its ties with the federal government.

The Congress party government of Haryana revived a decade-old electoral promise it had made to the local Sikh community and got the state assembly to pass a bill on July 11 in a jiffy handing over charge of managing all gurdwaras (places of worship for Sikhs) in the state to the Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak (management) Committee.

The two spheres of government have locked horns over who has the jurisdiction to enact the law.

The bill became a law after Haryana governor Jagannath Pahadia signed it.

The decision to set up a separate gurdwara management committee did not go down well with the neighbouring Punjab government, led by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), since it takes away powers of the Amritsar-based and SAD-dominated Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).

The matter took a turn for the worse as Akal Takht, the supreme religious body of the Sikhs, suspended three top leaders of the Haryana gurdwara management body.

SGPC has since then sent armed volunteers to various Haryana-based gurdwaras to prevent the newly created body from taking control.

While the majority feel the Haryana government was within its right to enact the law, its timing as it comes just three months before the state assembly elections are due is being questioned as it is being seen as an act to appease the local Sikh community who have sizable influence over 25 out of Haryana’s 90 assembly constituencies.

The Parkash Singh Badal government of Punjab, which is a junior partner to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now trying to get the new law withdrawn by using its connections, which has created an unprecedented constitutional crisis.

Following a meeting between Badal and federal home minister Rajnath Singh, the federal home ministry wrote a letter to the Haryana government saying enacting a law of this nature was beyond a state’s jurisdiction while asking the state authorities to withdraw it.

In a hard-hitting response, the Haryana government asserted that the issue was a state subject and there was no need for the centre’s nod to enact it while pointing out that it could not be withdrawn as after the governor’s signature it had already become law.

Interestingly, the Narendra Modi government at the centre had promised to end the tradition of the centre bullying the states. However, its interference under the Punjab government’s pressure has raised serious questions if the gurdwara law would lead to the first centre-state clash under Modi government.

The root cause of the SGPC and Akali Dal’s objection to creation of a new state level body are the large offerings received by various Haryana gurdwaras, running into billions of rupees. Traditionally the money was sent to the SPGC which will be divested of the huge money if the new body created by the Haryana government is allowed to take control.

The situation has become tense as all gurdwaras are being guarded by armed Sikhs sent from Punjab while Haryana police keep vigil from outside. Locals feel that if the issue remains unresolved an armed clash to take control of gurdwaras cannot be ruled out.