As Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal is about to take the oath as the chief minister of Punjab for the fifth time on Wednesday, the swearing-in ceremony is gaining a lot of attention for its grandiose.
With the top BJP leadership and half-a-dozen chief ministers confirming their presence for the ceremony, the Akali Dal is in over-drive to spruce up the venue Chappar Chiri, few kilometers from Chandigarh.
Already helipads have been prepared at the venue for the copters of the various chief ministers and other national leaders.
For the leaders and other VIPs, who are not coming in copters, but are coming to the Chandigarh airports, arrangements have been made to ferry them in copters from the airport to the venue.
The venue chosen for the swearing-in ceremony has a special place in Sikh history, as it is here that the Sikh army, led by their iconic warrior Bandha Singh Bhadhur, defeated the Mughals in a battle.
To oversee the arrangements, Akali chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has deployed his brother-in-law and president of youth Akali Dal Vikramjeet Singh Majathia.
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Left to support cong candidate from Bengal?
age correspondent
New Delhi, March 13
As the tug-of-war between the Congress and the Trinamul Congress continues over seats from West Bengal falling vacant in the Rajya Sabha soon, speculation is rife that the Left parties may support a consensus candidate of the Congress if such a situation arises.
On March 30, five Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal will be elected to fill up vacancies arising on April 2.
The five outgoing Rajya Sabha MPs from the state are Moinul Hasan, Saman Pathak and Tapan Sen (CPI-Marxist), R.C. Singh (CPI-M), and Mukul Ray (Trinamul Congress).
When asked whether there was any possibility of the Left parties supporting the Congress in the coming Rajya Sabha elections, senior party leader and RS MP Sitaram Yechury said there have been instances earlier when the two parties have agreed on common candidates.