Baba Bakala, a historic town in Amritsar district, is set to witness an intense political showdown on August 28, with five major political parties — the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP and Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) — holding separate conferences on the occasion of the annual Rakhar Punia festival.
The AAP will hold its programme at the grain market in Rayya, near Baba Bakala, where chief minister Bhagwant Mann is scheduled to address what the government has described as a ‘state-level government function’. The Congress event is likely to attract attention for a different reason. The party is facing internal differences over its state leadership, with political activity centred around the camps of Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The participation of Channi and leaders associated with his camp will be closely watched, making the Congress gathering an important indicator of the extent of unity within the state unit. The BJP is also making a major push at Baba Bakala, organising its first significant political conference at the venue. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon will lead the programme, while Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini are among the senior leaders scheduled to address the gathering.
Warring and other leaders from his camp are unlikely to attend the conference, according to party sources. Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla and senior leader Sukhwinder Singh Danny Bandala, who belongs to the adjoining Jandiala Guru constituency, may also skip the event, the sources said. AAP state working president Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi, Baba Bakala MLA Dalbir Singh Tong and Amritsar deputy commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh inspected the venue on Thursday and reviewed the arrangements.
The standoff between the two camps is set to be visible at Baba Bakala as well. The Congress conference is being organised mainly by the camp led by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, who is expected to be present on the occasion.
