The two main political parties in Punjab — the ruling Congress and the regional party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — are making all out effort to outdo each other, and claim credit for the construction of the proposed Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

While the Congress Government in Punjab is patting its back for development claiming that it was the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s repeated meetings and the Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s initiative that led to the corridor, the SAD-BJP combine is giving all the credit to BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre for taking the “historic” decision.

For Monday’s function to lay the foundation stone of proposed corridor, both the parties are ensuring the maximum presence of their leaders.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Capt Amarinder are scheduled to lay the foundation stone on Monday in the presence of State Cabinet Ministers, Congress leaders, among others. At the same time, SAD declared that the party’s leadership and workers will also participate in the ground-breaking ceremony.

“SAD leadership and workers will take part in the ground-breaking ceremony of the proposed corridor to Kartarpur Sahib on the Indian soil while singing hymns of gurbani on November 26. This is an auspicious occasion for everybody who believes in the way to God shown by our great Guru Nanak Dev, as a long standing demand of the Sikh community has been fulfilled due to a bold initiative taken by the NDA Government at the Centre,” said SAD senior vice-president and spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema.

Cheema informed that the entire SAD leadership, under the leadership of party president Sukhbir Badal, would reach at Durbar Sahib, Dera Baba Nanak, in the morning, and after listening to shabads from the holy gurbani, a prayer of gratitude will be made to the akal purkh (God).

“After the prayer, the sangat will march on foot to the ceremony site while singing auspicious shabads from the gurbani. SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, SAD core committee members, district presidents, MPs, legislators, former legislators, former ministers, all SGPC members and entire party leadership will grace the occasion,” he said while appealing to the Sikh sangat to reach at Durbar Sahib, Dera Baba Nanak at 8 am.

Irked over the arrangements by the Central Government for the event, Punjab Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa demanded the Punjab Congress leadership and the area Ministers should be accorded due space in the function.

Bajwa, the State Rural and Urban Development Minister, strongly reacted to the protocol for the Monday’s function to lay the foundation stone for Kartarpur Sahib corridor while ignoring Punjab Congress leadership and the area ministers.

“The list of speakers and those who would share the stage had been prepared at the Centre in which the Punjab leaders and local Ministers have not been given any space,” he pointed.

He said the local religious leaders were objecting to the duties assigned to Union Minister and SAD MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who would propose vote of thanks. “This duty should be assigned to Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar who is also the local MP. The Sant Samaj has threatened to walk out in case she is given such role,” he said.

Bajwa added not only local leadership but even the Ministers from this district had been ignored.

“SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal too would be there along with SGPC members that might create security problems keeping in view of the resentment among people against these leaders on the issue of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib,” he warned.

Lashing out at the Central Government for going in for laying the foundation stone two days before Pakistan without preparing the layout, Bajwa said that the hurry was only to pre-empt the ground-breaking ceremony by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on November 28.

What supports Bajwa’s claims regarding unpreparedness of ground-breaking ceremony is the fact that the venue for the same has been changed twice. As per the information, the event will now be held at a venue where Punjab Cabinet Minister and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was to hold a thanksgiving function.

Meanwhile, Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials are also engaging in a blame game over preparations.

While the Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal argued that the Centre has given the responsibility to NHAI for making arrangements, NHAI on the other hand, maintained that it was DC’s duty as they knew nothing about the area.

“In such a short span of time, things are really difficult for both the district administration and the NHAI. The function is to be presided over by the country’s second-most important constitutional head. Everything has to be in order which is not the case right now. The authorities should take the help of the army or otherwise things may turn bad,” said a local Congress leader.