Nawanshahar, Aug. 28: Government buses do not stop at Khatkar Kalan, a village off National Highway 103A, between the towns of Nawanshahar and Banga, but SUVs carrying politicians have been flocking to the village.
Khatkar Kalan is the ancestral pind (village) of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the tallest youth icon from this part of the country, and ahead of the Punjab polls political parties are in a race to stake claim on his legacy.
Leading the pack is the Aam Aadmi Party, whose official Twitter account has a photograph of Bhagat Singh in the header with the slogan "Long Live the Revolution".
The party's Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann took his oath in the Lok Sabha in 2014, his turban tied in Bhagat Singh's style. He signed off with the slogan " Inquilab Zindabad" that was popularised by the martyr and his associates during the Independence struggle and is now heard more often at Marxist rallies.
The victory of four MPs from the AAP in Punjab - Harinder Singh Khalsa, Dharamvir Gandhi (suspended from AAP), Sadhu Singh and Mann - was celebrated at Khatkar Kalan on the occasion of Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary.
This year too the Kejriwal government in Delhi has drawn up a mega plan to commemorate the birth anniversary - exactly a month away from now - at the Talkatora stadium and is trying to bring together surviving associates of Bhagat Singh.
The BJP, which has also been trying to promote icons from outside the Sangh parivar, started a leg of the Tiranga Yatra in Punjab from Khatkar Kalan to Madhopur on the Punjab-Jammu border, a distance of 200km, with Union minister and the party's Punjab unit chief Vijay Sampla leading the rally.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the call to hold these rallies across the country to make the youth aware of the sacrifices of our freedom fighters. Bhagat Singh's name is on top of that list. This has got nothing to do with politics," said a BJP leader.
The BJP's rivals in the state alleged there were more saffron flags than the Tricolour in the rallies and the party was trying to use Independence Day and memories of martyrs for political gains.
"The AAP and the BJP are engaged in a display of exhibitionism to flaunt their newfound love for Shaheed Bhagat Singh," said Amarinder Singh, the state Congress president and Amritsar MP. "Bhagat Singh belongs to the nation."
CPM MP Mohammad Salim echoed Amarinder. "Bhagat Singh is everybody's. They are doing this because of the elections," he said.
The AAP leaders in Punjab deny that the decision to evoke Bhagat Singh's legacy was related to the upcoming state polls.
"That is not true. Even before the AAP was formed we held Bhagat Singh in very high esteem. Members of India Against Corruption visited Khatkar Kalan during the Jan Lokpal Bill campaign. In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Kejriwalji (Arvind, the Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener) visited Khatkar Kalan to pay tribute to Bhagat Singh," said a senior AAP leader in Punjab.
The AAP, which shot into prominence in Punjab two years ago and managed a 24.4 per cent vote share, is still in search of a Sikh face.
After the recent controversy involving deposed state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, the party is busy trying to fight the perception that it is anti-Sikh. Chhotepur, who was removed after being accused of taking bribe, had described Kejriwal as anti-Sikh.
"This is all a sham. The AAP is the biggest fraud played on the people of India. They are using the name of Bhagat Singh to fool the people of Punjab," said Harinder Singh Khalsa, the Fatehgarh Saheb MP, now suspended from the AAP.
