Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set on Sunday to release here a book on Sikh military commander Banda Singh Bahadur to mark the 300th anniversary of his martyrdom."The Prime Minister will release a book and souvenir on Baba Banda Singh Bahadurji on the occasion," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a series of tweets. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be part of the programme, the PMO said."A recently released commemorative coin on Baba Banda Singh Bahadurji will be presented to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Punjab," said another tweet from the PMO. Last month, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had released a commemorative silver coin to mark the 300th martyrdom day of Banda Singh Bahadur.
Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal government has also been keenly associating itself with the Sikh military commander's martyrdom anniversary, recently putting out newspaper advertisements to announce renaming of the Barapulla flyover after Banda Singh Bahadur.These commemorations and announcements come months ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab to be held in 2017. Banda Singh Bahadur is believed to have been born in 1670 in Rajouri, now part of Jammu and Kashmir state. At a young age he became a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and assembled a force to fight the Mughal Empire. He is credited with establishing Sikh rule in Punjab, starting with the sack in 1709 of the Mughal provincial capital, Samana, now part of Patiala district.He was captured and executed by Mughals in Delhi in 1716.