Sunam (Sangrur) : The state government has sanctioned Rs 3.4 crore for acquiring land here for a memorial to Shaheed Udham Singh. This was announced by Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa after paying tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh at a state-level function to mark his 77th martyrdom day.
The minister said the state government was in the process of acquiring five acres to set up the ‘Shaheed Samarak’ here. The process to acquire the land would be completed in 2-3 months. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal or Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal would lay the foundation stone, he said.
Parminder Dhindsa said the CM could not attend the function as he had been suffering from fever for the past two days. At the function, criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by almost all SAD leaders and the virtual projection of Amanveer Singh Cheri, OSD to Parminder Dhindsa, as the SAD candidate from Sunam dominated the proceedings.After paying floral tributes to Udham Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa flayed AAP and Congress leaders. He said they had been defaming Punjab by labelling its youths as drug addicts. He said leaders from outside the state were trying to capture power in Punjab. Among others who paid tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh included Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Parkash Chand Garg and Balbir Singh Ghunas, Dhuri MLA Gobind Singh Longowal, Amargarh MLA Iqbal Singh Jhundan, former minister Gobind Singh Kanjhla, Finance Minister’s OSD Amanveer Singh Cheri, vice-chairman of PRTC Winnerjit Goldy and vice-chairman of Punjab Mandi Board Ravinder Singh Cheema.Fatehgarh Sahib: Various organisations and leaders of political parties in the town today paid tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh at his memorial located adjacent to Roza Sharief. Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha, former MLA Didar Singh Bhatti and other leaders observed a two-minute silence.Udham Singh was born at Sunam in Sangrur district on December 26, 1899, and hanged to death in London on July 31, 1940. He shot dead Michael O’Dwyer in London’s Caxton Hall in 1940 to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.