Badal spent crores on his monument(al) passion
It all began with the idea of Virasat-e-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, which was conceived on the 300th birth anniversary of Khalsa in 1999. Reminding the Sikh population about the project was a regular feature in Badal's speeches to woo Sikh votes.
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The Virasat-e-Khalsa was the biggest construction project, and work continued on it during the fourth and fifth terms of Badal. (Express photo/File) The construction of memorials, museums, and statues was an important tool in late five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s political strategy. He used this tool to appease Sikh hardliners and the anti-RSS lobby of Dalits by constructing something for everyone. During his 10-year rule from 2007 to 2017, Badal spent more than Rs. 3000 crore on around 20 such projects.
It all began with the idea of Virasat-e-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, which was conceived on the 300th birth anniversary of Khalsa in 1999. The Virasat-e-Khalsa was the biggest construction project, and work continued on it during the fourth and fifth terms of Badal. Reminding the Sikh population about Virasat-e-Khalsa was a regular feature in his speeches to woo Sikh votes.
Badal surprised many when the Shiromani Akali Dal-ruled Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandak Committee allowed Damdami Taksal to construct a memorial for the army action inside Darbar Sahib in 1984. The decision was taken during an election year in 2011, and the memorial was completed in 2013.
Even the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), which was an alliance partner of SAD, was upset with the memorial. However, Badal obliged Sant Samaj, which had always supported SAD in elections.
One of Badal’s biggest achievements was the resolution of the long-standing dispute between Mahant Baldev Giri and the Bhagwan Valmiki Dhuna Sahib Management Trust over the land of Ram Tirath, now called Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath.
Later, a Valmiki Temple was constructed on the land, and Badal gave Darshan Rattan Ravana, a Valmiki community religious guru known for his anti-RSS stance, full control to decide how the temple would look like when Badal was in alliance with the BJP.
The Heritage Street in Amritsar leading to Darbar Sahib was another significant achievement of the late CM. The Heritage Street not only boosted tourism in Amritsar but also has a Partition Museum to console the bitter memories of the 1947 divide of India and Pakistan. The Heritage Street also has a big statue of Dr Ambedkar and martyr Madan Lal Dhingra, apart from a memorial to remember those killed in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
To celebrate the Sikh and Indian Army heritage, a 45-metre-long sword, billed as the world’s biggest, with the sharp edge facing Pakistan, was installed as part of the War Memorial in Amritsar in 2016.
His government also constructed the Fateh Burj (victory tower) at Chappar Chhiri on the outskirts of Mohali on the Banur-Kharar road, dedicated to Sikh military commander Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.
To appease the Dalit community, it was the Badal government that conceived the Guru Ravidass Memorial at Khuralgarh in the Doaba region of Punjab.
The Badal government also constructed the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial in Jalandhar (Kartarpur) to commemorate the history of the Freedom movement.
Parkash Singh Badal had also announced the construction of a Cow Memorial in Joga after locals discovered 25 cows dead at an illegal cow slaughterhouse in Mansa’s Joga. However, the memorial was never built.
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