Amritsar, Nov 25 : Avtar Singh Makkar was elected president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for the fifth time here Wednesday.

Makkar was supported by the Akali Dal, the ruling party in Punjab, and polled 139 votes while 25 votes went against him.

He has become the 44th president of the SGPC, the mini-parliament of Sikh religion, founded in 1920.

The election was held at the SGPC headquarters here located in the Golden Temple complex.

The SGPC manages gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and is the most powerful body in the Sikh politico-religious set up.

The holiest of Sikh shrines, Harmandar Sahib (popularly called Golden Temple), here is also managed by the SGPC.

The organization has an annual budget of nearly Rs. 4.5 billion (Rs. 450 crore), much of which comes through offerings at the gurdwaras.

The control of gurdwaras and the finances make SGPC a powerful body, especially among Sikh masses - the dominant community in Punjab.

With his re-election, Makkar has become only the second SGPC president to be re-elected five times or more. Late Gurcharan Singh Tohra remained SGPC president for a record 27 years starting in 1973.(IANS)