Hola Mohalla kicks off, Cong unlikely to hold conference

Tribune News Service

Kiratpur Sahib, March 1

After facing defeat in the civic body elections in Punjab, the Congress is unlikely to hold a political conference at Hola Mohalla this year.

The first phase of the six-day festival started with akhand path at Gurdwara Patalpuri here today.

Thousands of devotees paid obeisance at the gurdwara and bhog of the path will be performed on March 3. Following this, the venue of the festival will be shifted to Anandpur Sahib on March 4.

A senior Congress leader in Ropar said the party workers were demoralised after the defeat in the civic elections.

Beleaguered with factionalism and after suffering such a humiliating defeat, the party had no major issue to take up during the conference, he said.

“Under such circumstances, neither the high command told the local leaders to prepare for the event nor did the local workers show any enthusiasm,” he said.

This would be the second consecutive year when the Congress has decided against holding the conference at Hola Mohalla. Last year, the party had dropped the idea after a boycott call by a faction headed by district Congress chief Harbhag Singh Saini.

The Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party and the SAD (Amritsar) would organise their political conferences on March 5. Most of the senior leaders of these parties are likely to participate in the rallies.

Akali Dal MLA from Ropar and Education Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema has been holding meetings of party workers to maximise the participation in the party’s conference. Cheema said besides Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab BJP president Kamal Sharma and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar, several leaders from the SAD-BJP alliance would participate in the event.

Kamal Kishore, AAP district in charge, said apart from the four party MPs from Punjab, senior leaders from Delhi were likely to reach for the conference. A display of martial arts during a procession by Nihangs would mark the conclusion of the festival on March 6.