Sultanpur Lodhi, November 23: A day before Gurpurb, hectic arrangements were on at two parallel venues for Congress and Akali events to be held in the town tomorrow.
The Akali camp, which got a boost after the announcement of Kartarpur corridor by the Centre today, further got a fillip as Union Ministers of State Hardeep Puri and Mahesh Sharma are also scheduled to be present at their event tomorrow.
SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal said he had got a confirmation of their visit this evening. The SGPC and the SAD will hold a joint programme at Bhai Mardana Dewan Hall of Gurdwara Ber Sahib, which Governor VP Singh Badnore and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal will attend. Ex-Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be at the gurdwara for an hour tomorrow morning but is not scheduled to attend the political event.
At the Congress event in New Grain Market, ex-PM Dr Manmohan Singh, CM Capt Amarinder Singh and a host of ministers from the state Cabinet will attend the programme. The organisers of the government function are expecting a gathering of about 25,000 people. All MLAs of the area have been asked to bring in devotees in buses. While MLAs from urban constituencies have been asked to arrange 20 buses each in addition to cars, those from rural constituencies have been asked to make arrangement for at least 50 buses each.
The state government is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of 30 projects, including developing Sultanpur Lodhi as a heritage town, developing a permanent museum, ‘Pind Babe Nanak Da’, upgrade of Sultanpur Lodhi railway station and bus stand, creation of centre for inter-faith studies and Chairs in foreign universities, starting a new government college for girls, release of commemorative coin and postage stamps. High security arrangements have been made and four helipads have been readied for the landing of the dignitaries.
Meanwhile, a massive nagar kirtan started from Gurdwara Sant Ghat in Sultanpur this afternoon which concluded at Gurdwara Ber Sahib in the evening amidst reverberating hymns like “Satguru Nanak pargatya, mitti dhundh jag chanan hoya” and “Nanak naam chardi kala, tere bhane sarbat da bhala”.
After the nagar kirtan, a dewan started at Gurdwara Ber Sahib which continued throughout the night. In the panorama of the gurdwara, a play on Malik Bhago and Bhai Lalo was also performed.
Source Tribune India
