Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday deputed two of his cabinet colleagues — Manpreet Badal and Rana Gurjeet Singh, to attend the State-level martyrdom day functions on March 23, Thursday, in his absence.
Capt Amarinder, who left for New Delhi on Tuesday morning for meeting the Central Ministers on various issues, would not be able to attend the state-level function on Thursday owing to his important high-level meetings.
In his place, the state Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and Power Minister Rana Gurjeet will represent the state government.
The state level functions would be organised, every year, at Hussainiwala in Ferozepur district and Khattkar Kalan in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) district to pay tribute to legendary martyrs Shaheed-e-Aazam Sardar Bhagat Singh, Shaheed Rajguru and Shaheed Sukhdev.
This time, apart from paying homage to the martyrs, a rally will also be organised in Hussainiwala to be addressed by Manpreet.
Chief Minister regretted his inability, due to prior engagements, to be part of the functions to pay homage to the great martyrs who had laid down their lives at the altar of the motherland, said an official spokesperson.
Spokesperson said that Capt Amarinder's government places great importance on the role played by these martyrs in the nation’s freedom struggle and would ensure the maintenance and upkeep of their memorials, as well as development of the areas around them.
Notably, Capt Amarinder used to attend this event during his previous stint as Chief Minister from 2002-2007.
His predecessor, Parkash Singh Badal, had been regularly attending this function for the past 10 years. In 2015, even the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Hussainiwala along with Badal on the martyrdom day.