FREMONT — The election of new leaders for the Gurdwara Sahib of the San Francisco Bay Area was confirmed Sunday by an independent monitoring organization.

The gurdwara's members also decided to limit the power of its leaders after more than 75 percent of people voted in favor of term limits, said Ram Singh, a member of the Panthic slate who was re-elected to the leadership body.

"I'm not aware of any other gurdwara that has term limits. But it's a healthy thing because it helps bring in new blood and new ideas," Singh said. "That was one of the messages we wanted to send. I think (term limits) are one way to increase diversity within any congregation and within any church."

The vote to amend the gurdwara's bylaws clarified that supreme council members should serve for two years. The amendments also limit members from serving more than twice in eight years.

The amendments could go far toward placating some gurdwara members concerned about whether leaders should be periodically elected or serve for life, council members said. The disputes, which began in 1996 and boiled over in 2002, spawned lawsuits, violence and arrests at the gurdwara before the court's intervention in its election and finances.

In 2002, a Superior Court judge determined that the gurdwara's five leaders were holding office illegally. The judge also overruled the gurdwara's bylaws by requiring annual elections for religious nonprofit organizations under the California Corporations Code.

After the results were announced, council leaders said they intended to create more committees within the gurdwara to increase the participation of members within the congregation.

Of the 3,036 ballots cast Jan. 8 at the gurdwara, 2,349 people voted in favor of amending the gurdwara's bylaws, according to Californians for Electoral Reform, a non-partisan organization hired by the gurdwara to count the ballots.

Although each candidate ran individually, 2,237 people voted for the entire Panthic slate, made up mostly of incumbents, and 709 voted for the United Sikhs Alliance slate.

Four out of the new five members — Ram Singh of Milpitas, Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal of San Jose, Tara Singh Gill of Union City and Kuljit Singh of Union City — sat on the Supreme Council last year.

The fifth, Gurcharan Singh Mann of Fremont, succeeded Devinder Singh Chana of Union City, who ran with the United Sikh Alliance on a platform of bringing more members of the congregation into the day-to-day management of the gurdwara.

The Supreme Council appoints the gurdwara's committee members, as well as oversees its finances, including approximately $1 million in annual revenue.

Sikhism originated more than 500 years ago in the northern state of Punjab. More 25 million practice Sikhism worldwide, including some 150,000 Sikhs in Northern California around gurdwaras in San Jose, El Sobrante, Rose and Yuba City and more than 8,000 at the gurdwara in Fremont.

Daily Review Online - CA,USA January 16, 2006