Patna,
December 22: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has invited his
Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar to participate in the state-level Hola Mohalla
celebrations to mark the beginning of the Sikh New Year in 2018.
The invitation was issued when Captain Amarinder called
on Nitish here on Friday, during a visit to Takht Sri Patna Sahib, to pay his
respects on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru.
During a brief meeting, which a spokesperson described as
a courtesy call, Captain Amarinder informed the Bihar Chief Minister that he
had decided to send a team from Panjabi University, Patiala, where a Chair has
been established in the name of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji, to the Dashmesh
Pita’s birthplace in Patna for research.
Captain Amarinder also congratulated Nitish on the
excellent arrangements made for the lakhs of devotees, converging at Sri Patna
Sahib from around the world. He had personally seen the arrangements, which he
found to be extremely impressive, said the Punjab Chief Minister.
Captain Amarinder apprised the Bihar Chief Minister about
the arrangements made by his government to mark the historic occasion. Besides
organising a series of special programmes, culminating in a mega event at Sri
Anandpur Sahib on December 24, the Punjab government has also arranged for
three special trains to ferry pilgrims from Patiala, Amritsar and Bathinda to
Patna, he said, adding that the trains were flagged off this morning and would
leave on the return journey to Punjab on December 26.
This was the second meeting this year between Captain
Amarinder and Nitish. The Bihar Chief Minister had hosted Captain Amarinder for
lunch at his residence when, as Punjab Congress president, the latter had
visited Sri Patna Sahib in January this year.
