Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Badal) and its breakaway faction, SAD-Punar Surjit, are heading for yet another clash after the government allocated the same venue to both parties for holding programmes and blood donation camps to mark the 41st death anniversary of Akali icon Harchand Singh Longowal in Longowal town of Sangrur.The SAD, which is holding a Punjab Bachao rally, has accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the rebel faction SAD-Punar Surjit of indulging in foul play.Party spokesperson Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said they had booked the venue at Dana Mandi in Longowal well in advance. The application was submitted on April 27 and, after completing all formalities, including police clearance and site approval, a payment of Rs 36,000 was also submitted on August 12.Dr Cheema said, “The authorities gave backdoor approval to SAD-Punar Surjit on August 15, when the entire country was celebrating Independence Day. While the venue underneath the tent has been allocated to SAD-Punar Surjit, the area around it has been reserved for holding a blood donation camp. We have been told to hold our function in the open, where rubble has been dumped in Dana Mandi. This is completely unacceptable, and AAP and Punar Surjit are deliberately trying to derail the SAD rally.”On the other hand, Dr Arshdeep Singh Kaler said that they had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard.The SAD is trying to show its strength during the programme, with SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal expected to address the rally for the first time after being attacked in Nanded.Meanwhile, SAD-Punar Surjit has rejected the allegations as baseless and said that Sukhbir Badal and his supporters were deliberately trying to hijack the venue.The faction led by SAD-Punar Surjit, which consists of leaders including former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, former Member of Parliament Prem Singh Chandumajra, Gurpartap Singh Wadala and former cabinet minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, has also made elaborate arrangements to address its supporters during the death anniversary programme.Both political parties are now trying to vie for space underneath a shed at Dana Mandi, the grain market.Sources said the situation turned tense on Monday afternoon when supporters of the SAD and Punar Surjit came face to face after SAD workers started preparing for their function in the area allocated to Punar Surjit.Parminder Singh Dhindsa said, “We are holding a pre-scheduled programme. The shed at Dana Mandi has been allocated to us as we organise the ‘Parkash of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji’. We heard that SAD-Badal workers have encroached upon the venue. We do not wish to enter into any kind of confrontation and humbly ask them to vacate the venue, as they have never organised a rally at Dana Mandi in the past.”Successive governments have been holding state-level programmes to mark the death anniversary.The opposition parties are keenly observing the developments, as the death anniversary could be used for mobilising panthic voters ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for next year.Harchand Singh Longowal (1932–1985) was the then president of the SAD and a key figure during Punjab’s turbulent insurgency in the 1980s.Longowal was one of the architects of the Rajiv-Longowal Punjab Accord, which was inked on July 24, 1985, and for which he had to pay with his life less than a month later. He was gunned down at Gurdwara Akal Parkash in Sangrur district on August 20, 1985.After the killing of Sant Longowal, Surjit Singh Barnala, who had accompanied him in signing the accord, became the Chief Minister of Punjab and used to observe the death anniversary every year.