Chandigarh: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's much awaited visit to Punjab to inaugurate the ambitious Khalsa Heritage Complex (KHC) at Anandpur Sahib has been cancelled, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said Thursday.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had said the KHC, touted as a landmark monument of Sikhism, would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister between Nov 15 and 25.
Manmohan Singh, a Sikh himself, had agreed "in principle" to a request by the Chief Minister to inaugurate the KHC at Anandpur Sahib, 80 km from here, when the latter called on him in New Delhi in October.
The SGPC, considered the mini parliament of Sikh religion, and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal have blamed petty politics of Punjab Congress leaders for the cancellation.
"The visit of the Prime Minister has been cancelled. The Sikh community had bestowed an honour on the prime minister, who is himself a Sikh, to inaugurate this great monument. But his visit has been sacrificed by petty politics," SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said in Patiala Thursday.
"The Prime Minister should not be so weak that he is influenced by others so easily," said Makkar, sounding bitter.
Punjab Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh had last month written a letter to the prime minister to not come for the KHC project inauguration as it had already been 'inaugurated' in 2006.
Punjab Congress leaders were worried that the prime minister coming for an event for the Badal government and the SGPC so close to assembly elections could be detrimental to Congress interests.
Assembly Elections in the state are likely to be held February-March next year and parties in the state are already in election mode.
"It is unfortunate that he (PM) has said that I am not coming. It was an honour for him, being a Sikh, to inaugurate this prestigious project. The Punjab Congress and Amarinder Singh are responsible for this cancellation (of the visit)," Chief Minister Badal said.
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