Politicisation of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev should be avoided: Pb minister

Punjab minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa Sunday said the politicisation of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev should be avoided and any controversy at this stage could put a spanner in the preparation.

The senior Congress leader asserted that the state government was committed to celebrate the occasion in full tandem with the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) under the aegis of the Akal Takht (highest temporal seat of Sikhs).

"The politicisation of the occasion as sacred and pious as the 550th 'Parkash Purb' of Guru Nanak Dev should be avoided at all costs as the occasion is fast approaching and any controversy at this stage could put a spanner in the preparation," Randhawa said in a statement here.

But the recent development in which SGPC President Gobind Singh Longowal went with the delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi "smacked of politicising" the sacred occasion, he alleged.

The Congress leader said it would have been better had the invitations been extended jointly on behalf of the Punjab government and the SGPC as the present state government is duly-elected by the people of the state and is their representative.

He also said the coordination between the SGPC and the state government is the need of the hour as it would send all the positive signals concerning the celebrations.

On July 1, the SAD delegation had invited Modi to attend a function to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 12 at Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab.