The election was held during the committee's annual general house meeting at the Teja Singh Samundri Hall inside the Golden Temple complex here.

As Akali Dal (Badal) supporters who teemed the house decided to retain the same team of office-bearers and executive committee members, elected in November last year, the Amritsar Dal president, Simranjit Singh Mann alongwith four of his party colleagues staged a walk-out, protesting against the ``un-democratic'' functioning of the house.

``We demanded a discussion on the resolution proposing to retain last year's functionaries but Mr Tohra did not allow this,'' Mann told the Press immediately after the walk-out.

The hardliner Akali leader alleged that the house was being run according to the ``whims and fancies of Mr Tohra'' and discussions on importantissues related to the Sikhs were not being allowed.

``Every year we (SGPC) make a number of demands through resolutions in the general house but so far not even a single demand has been acceded,'' he lamented.

The trouble arose when, at the onset of the meeting, Tohra began to brief the house about his closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Akali Dal chief.

At this point, Akali Dal (Badal) leader Surjan Singh Thakedar, who is not an SGPC member, stood up and said Badal had desired that last year's office bearers and executive committee members should be retained in view of the tri-centenary celebrations of the `Khalsa panth' next year.

When Jagdev Singh Talwandi, another Akali leader began speaking in support of Thakedar's proposal, Jaswant Singh of the Amritsar Dal got up and lodged a protest alleging that the house had not been taken into confidence on this proposal which was known to a few members before the start of the meeting. He demanded a discussion on the issue butwas disallowed by Tohra. This prompted Mann, Jaswant Singh, Harjinder Singh, Baldev Singh and Jagdhir Singh to walk out of the meeting.

The resolution on continuing with last year's office bearers and executive committee members for another year was then unanimously passed by the house.