Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday 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 Amarinder called on Nitish in Patna on Friday, during his visit to Takht Sri Patna Sahib, to pay his respects on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru. An official spokesperson said, Punjab CM Amarinder informed the Bihar CM 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, to the Dashmesh Pita’s birthplace in Patna for research.
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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 CM.
Amarinder apprised the Bihar CM 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 24 December, 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 26 December.
This was the second meeting this year between Amarinder and Nitish. The Bihar CM had hosted Amarinder for lunch at his residence when, as Punjab Congress president, the latter had visited Sri Patna Sahib in January this year.