The city is all decked up for Sukhbir Badal’s oath-taking ceremony to be held on Wednesday. Welcome hoardings and signboards dot the roads and a huge pandal has been set up at the Ranjit Avenue ground.

BJP national president Rajnath Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal are likely to attend the function.

Recitals of kirtan and hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib would mark the ceremony and there would be no public speeches.

NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley and Gujarat Narendra Modi CM are yet to confirm their attendance. The state SAD-BJP top brass, ministers, MPs and MLAs of the ruling alliance would also take part in the ceremony that is being held outside Chandigarh or Mohali for the first time.

Majitha MLA Bikram Singh Majithia said party workers and leaders from all over the state would attend the ceremony. The pandal would have three stages, one for religious men, including Sant Samaj leaders, second for VVIPs and the third for Governor SF Rodrigues, who would administer the oath to Sukhbir.

Heavy security arrangements are in place with the deployment of over 4,000 personnel under the leadership of seven SSPs and three DIGs deputed in the city.

Sukhbir, after taking the oath, would go to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple and offer tributes to martyrs at the Jallianwala Bagh before leaving for the state capital, said official sources.

Senior state officials, including Principal Secretary to CM Parkash Singh Badal DS Guru and DGP NPS Aulakh, said security has been tightened for the ceremony, which would start at 11.30 am and Sukhbir would take the oath at 1:30 pm. Traffic, they said, would be diverted and residents may have to face some inconvenience.

Meanwhile, the Khalra Mission Organisation (KMO), a local human rights body, termed Sukhbir’s elevation as a “family affair”.

KMO chairman Harmandeep Singh Sarhali said the BJP leaders, who had welcomed Operation Bluestar in 1984, would share the stage with the Badals.