Two Punjab ministers urge CM Amarinder Singh to declare Batala city as 24th district

In a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday, two Punjab ministers demanded that Batala city be named the 24th district of the state. In their letter, Punjab ministers Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa emphasised that the historic city of Batala has not received the focus it deserved. The letter to the Punjab CM also demanded that the historic towns of Fatehgarh Churian and Sri Hargobindpur or Ghuman be turned into new subdivisions of the new district of Batala.

What does the letter say?

The letter by INC ministers Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa pointed out that Batala was an important city of Punjab that carried rich historical, religious, social and literary heritage. They mentioned that Batala was amongst the oldest city of Punjab after Bathinda, founded in 1465 and was also the eighth-largest city in the state in terms of the population where a Municipal Corporation was formed last year.

Accentuating on the historical heritage of Batala, the ministers also said that it was an important city during the Sikh empire after Lahore and Amritsar during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The minister concluded by saying, "From a cultural and literary point of view, there is no Punjabi across the globe who has not heard the name of the great Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar who added Batalvi to his name, thereby adding to its eminence. The late poet is known in the literary field as Birha's poet and Punjabi's Keats."

Amarinder Singh contradicts Rahul Gandhi over Jallianwala Bagh Memorial comment

Complementing the Indian government, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the revamped Jallianwala Bagh 'looked very nice.' Singh's statement came after senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had criticised the Centre over the move to revamp the memorial and called it an insult to martyrs. The Punjab chief minister and senior Congress leader Singh had previously said that the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial should serve as a reminder for future generations about people's right to peaceful democratic protests. Complementing the revamp, Singh said the memorial looks very nice. PM Modi had inaugurated the revamped Jallianwala Bagh memorial via video conference last Saturday. 

Image Credits - Twitter(Amarinder Singh)/ Facebook/ ANI