SOUTHAMPTON’S leading Sikh group has condemned a council candidate for using a religious body to promote his campaign.

Conservative hopeful Harmeet Brar is under fire for mixing his role at Hampshire Sikh Council with a bid to represent Swaythling.

As communications director and former general secretary of the splinter Sikh organisation, he is thought to have overseen online posts endorsing Conservatives politicians including himself.

It has led to criticism from Southampton Council of Gurdwaras (SCG), a separate, non-partisan organisation representing Sikhs in the city who attend the city’s four temples.

Mr Brar denied his group was political, claiming it had backed Labour candidates in the past. But SCG secretary Saranjit Karir said the group’s actions would stir up conflict in the Sikh community.

“It is offensive because it’s their views,” he said. “Politics and religion should not mix.

“I think there will be a lot of conflicts about this.”

In March Hampshire Sikh Council tweeted: “We openly support the Conservatives.” Since then it has urged followers to vote for Michael Lane, the Tory candidate for Hampshire police and crime commissioner, and published an open letter thanking Conservative MP Royston Smith for his work in the community.

The Daily Echo was unable to find endorsements of politicians from any other parties online.

Mr Brar said: “The Sikh Council has been supporting me because I’m a member and because of the work that I’ve done. The Sikh Council explicitly does not support a party.”

Labour councillor Satvir Kaur, a cabinet member at Southampton City Council and also a Sikh, said: “I think it’s disingenuous, misleading and offensive to Sikhs in Southampton that they can openly endorse a political party and then claim they’re apolitical.”

Meanwhile, Mr Brar has pledged to quit as a parish councillor in Wellow, 12 miles from Swaythling, if he is elected to Southampton City Council this week.