Dhindsa flays two stages for 550th birth anniversary celebrations

Former Rajya Sabha member and veteran Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa put the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in a spot on Sunday when he stated that the setting up of separate stages for celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev by the Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has sent a wrong signal and such a situation could have been avoided.

Former Rajya Sabha member and veteran Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa put the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in a spot on Sunday when he stated that the setting up of separate stages for celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev by the Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has sent a wrong signal and such a situation could have been avoided.

HT Image

The senior SAD leader, who resigned as leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha nearly a fortnight ago, was addressing a gathering during the Barsi Samagam being observed in the memory of jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi at Gurdwara Tahliana Sahib, Raikot (Ludhiana).

Dindsa’s comment came a day after he appreciated efforts of the Congress leader and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for speeding up the process for the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

On the other hand, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal maintained that it was the Congress government that intruded into affairs of the SGPC, which led to the setting up of two stages.

Sukhbir, who was seen in a sombre mood during the programme, first sat with SAD workers on the floor.

Later, former SAD MLA Ranjit Singh Talwandi approached Sukhbir and requested him to sit on a chair along with former member of Parliament (MP) Prem Singh Chandumajra and veteran leader Dhindsa.

Before sitting on a chair Sukhbir greeted Dhindsa and Chandumajra.

While addressing the gathering, Sukbir said that the panthic party will be observing “barsi” of all SAD presidents.