By IANS,
Amritsar : His family roots may lie in Punjab but that doesn’t seem like enough reason for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to get interested in the state’s politics.
His personal visit to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar Monday and Tuesday was more of a pilgrimage for thanksgiving for his successful heart surgery in January and speedy recovery.
The prime minister kept his visit low profile even though tight security measures were in place and the Chief Minister and veteran Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal turned up to receive him.
But the prime minister did not use the trip to kick-off the Congress poll campaign in the state. As in past, there have been demands that he should contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar. But he has managed to stay away this time too.
Later on Tuesday, at the New Delhi event to release the Congress manifesto, he was formally declared the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 15th Lok Sabha elections.