CM to attend Chhath Puja in Panipat today

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, November 18

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will attend the Chhath Puja in Panipat as the Chief Guest on Sunday.

The festival is mainly celebrated in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to offer a prayer to the Sun God. The CM will offer a prayer to the Sun in the evening and would give ‘Arghya’ with the people of Purvanchal here.

However, a political analyst said the CM’s programme was aimed at making a direct reach with the people of Purvanchal in view of the upcoming parliamentary polls.

The hoardings of Prime Minister Narender Modi and CM on roads and near the programme venues also became a centre of discussion here.

Panipat, a textile city with over five lakh people from across Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh living here, has a large number of voters. Even in the Panipat Rural constituency, the people of Purvanchal played a big role in deciding the election seat as a majority of people live in the outer colonies here, sources said.

Officers and political leaders have started making arrangements for the celebration of the Chhath Puja here with special stages set for the CM’s welcome. MP Sanjay Bhatia, along with Additional Chief Secretary to CM and Director of the Public Relations Department Dr Amit Agrawal, and DC Vijender Singh Dahiya today visited the venue near the NFL ghat on Gohana Road to take stock of the preparations and direct the officials for the programme’s success.

MP Sanjay Bhatia said 30 organisations of ‘Purvanchal’ are organising the puja together in Panipat. Agrawal said all preparations have been completed at the venue for the celebration here.

Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari will also participate in the programme. The people of Purvanchal would celebrate the festival at three places in Panipat— NFL ghat on Gohana Road, minor canal on Assandh road and Babarpur.

Cops deployed at 54 sites in Gurugram

Gurugram: The Gurugram administration has allocated 54 places for Chhath Puja, where strict security arrangements have been made by the police. More than 600 police personnel will remain deployed at all places from November 17 to 20 to ensure safety of people arriving there for the puja. TNS