Jalandhar, February 9 Several NRIs, politicians and members of the Ravidassia community participated in the Guru Ravidass Jayanti shobha yatra taken out in the city today. The tableaux had decorated palanquins where devotees paid respect and well-designed artefacts which displayed stories about the life of the guru. Religious hymns were chanted by various accompanying jathas. Prominent among the politicians who attended the shobha yatra were Union MoS Vijay Sampla, Congress leader Pargat Singh, SAD leaders Sarabjeet Makkar, Pawan Tinu, Seth Satpal Mal and ex-Mayor Surinder Mahey. Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary and his son and PPCC general secretary Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary along with Congress workers participated in a shobha yatra at Phillaur. The nagar kirtan which started from Guru Ravidass Temple, Phillaur, and passed through Garha, Police Colony, Noormahal Road, Guru Ravidass Temple, Ramgarh, Nangal, Phillaur city and back was attend by thousands of followers. Much awaited three-day off for administration Having remained stuck up in election work for nearly a month and remaining unable to attend even their weekly holidays, it is a much awaited three-day weekend for government officials ahead. Tomorrow is a holiday on account of Guru Ravidass Jayanti and Saturday and Sunday will be off-days. Since polling took place on the last Saturday, most officers had to attend office on the last Sunday also to complete their reports. The SDMs, however, are a little perturbed and will not be able to keep off during the first half of Saturday. Since Lok Adalat falls on this Saturday, there have been orders from the Punjab Chief Secretary to attend the court during the first half and try to resolve as many pending cases as possible related to the award of compensation, demarcation and family disputes. Traffic hampered Vehicular road traffic between Ludhiana and Jalandhar was paralysed as hundreds of vehicles, including cars, trucks and buses, remained stranded for more than two hours and people had to face much inconvenience during the shobha yatras organised in connection with Guru Ravidass Jayanti this afternoon. Several patients and marriage parties suffered due to traffic jams. The traffic was diverted via link and rural roads to and from Phillaur and Phagwara. In the town, religious “jhankis” were displayed and jathas performed kirtans. —OC

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