SAD, AAP & BJP to Flex Muscle on 'Maghi Mela'

The Maghi Mela—a fair held in the memory of forty Sikh martyrs known as Muktas (liberated ones) in the 1705 Battle of Khidrana against the Mughals—is one of Panjab’s biggest religious events. The fair is held on 14 Jan at Sri Muktsar Sahib. One of the major features of the fair is conferences by political parties. This year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to hold its first political conference at the fair signalling an aggressive push to set the tone in Panjab ahead of the Assembly elections in 2027. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), buoyed by recent improvement in tally in block and district polls, and Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) are also going to hold independent conferences. Panjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will also organize a political conference at the fair, nearly a decade after it had last held it in 2016. At that time, the party was expanding its footprint in Panjab, with its national convener Arvind Kejriwal and then Sangrur Member of Parliament and the current Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann donning turbans to kickstart their 2017 Assembly election campaign. The Indian National Congress (INC) has chosen not to hold its political conference. INC leaders said the party would instead hold a rally in Muktsar after the fair, maintaining that it is adhering to the Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne) 2017 edict discouraging political conferences at fairs associated with Sikhs’ martyrdom. SAD (Punar Surjit, revival), the breakaway Akali faction, is also not conducting its conference. Another feature of the fair is the equine exhibition. The Panjab government is set to host a grand cattle and horse fair on a 70 acre site at the Industrial Focal Point, Lambi Dhab at Sri Muktsar Sahib. The fair is expected to draw a huge gathering of breeders, traders, and animal enthusiasts from across the region. Meanwhile in a Panjab cabinet reshuffle, Investment Promotion and Power minister Sanjeev Arora has also been assigned the Local Government department. Dr. Ravjot Singh who handled the department has been assigned to the Non Resident Indian department that Arora held (earlier coverage).