Khatkar Kalan, the birth place of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, saw the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) combine and the Congress scrambling for making most of his legacy on Wednesday by organising massive public meetings to mark his 80th martyrdom day.
Thousands of people flocked the tiny village in Nawan Shahr district as the political parties demonstrated their show of strength. Both Badal and PCC president Amarinder Singh, in their rallies, focused more on condemning each other than Bhagat Singh and his ideals.
The sudden interest in the martyr has been prompted by Manpreet Singh Badal’s initiative evoking the ideals espoused by Bhagat Singh in a bid to inspire Punjab’s youth and prompt them to make a difference to the state’s politics.
However, former finance minister Manpreet Badal decided to stay away from from Khatkar Kalan on Wednesday. He also postponed the launch of his new political outfit from the village to March 27.
Manpreet said since SAD and the Congress would also be holding parallel rallies on Wednesday, it would have resulted in chaos besides causing inconvenience to commuters, farmers and members of his new party.
Having a dig at his political opponents, Manpreet said unlike the Akalis and the Congress, he did not want to indulge in tokenism by hosting an event that was reduced to a show of strength and failed to redress aspirations of the masses.
“Launching our party from Khatkar Kalan is a symbolic gesture as those who join us on that day will pledge to fulfill the vision of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, which has been ignored by all parties for the past over 80 years,” he said.
