Cong writes to PM, seeks nomination of its MPs on Guru Tegh Bahadur birth anniversary panel

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to nominate some Congress MPs from Punjab to the high-level committee constituted to solemnise the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the ten Gurus of Sikhism.

Chowdhury in his letter to the Prime minister said he has received a letter from Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla regarding his nomination as a member of the high-level committee to celebrate the occasion.

He said he was honoured to be associated with such a solemn and sacred anniversary and assured of his best for the noble and pious cause.

"I have noticed that a number of public representatives from Bharatiya Janata Party are represented on that committee. On the same line, I may like to request you to kindly consider nominating some public representatives i.e. Members of Parliament of Indian National Congress as well from Punjab because they are so religiously and emotionally attached with this great event," he said in his letter to the PM.

While Prime Minister Modi is the chairman of the Committee, former Prime minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari are among some of the members of the Committee that was formed in October.

The mandate of the 70-member committee includes approval of policies, plans, programmes and supervising and guiding the commemoration, besides deciding broad dates for detailed programmes of celebration.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, chief ministers of Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan are also members of the panel.

Other members include Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Akali Dal leaders Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, former chief of Indian Army J J Singh, former chief of Indian Air Force Birender Singh Dhanoa, and sportspersons Milkha Singh and Harbhajan Singh.