V-P Naidu’s office has no info on Kartarpur visit

A day after Union food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal announced that he will lead the first jatha (delegation) to Kartarpur on November 9, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu’s office on Thursday said it had no information on the proposed visit so far.

Ashok Dewan, joint secretary, administration and tours, in VP’s office, said he was not aware of any such programme. “If something is finalised, I will be kept in the loop. I will let you know as and when we get any information in this regard,” he said on being contacted. He said the vice-president would address the Punjab assembly during the special one-day session to be held on November 6 to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak.

Naidu could not be contacted as he was in Hyderabad and will be back in Delhi on Monday. Another member of the VP’s staff, who is travelling with him, also denied having any information on his Kartarpur visit.

Harsimrat, who is Akali MP from Bathinda, had on Wednesday said that Venkaiah Naidu will lead the inaugural delegation of pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the Kartarpur corridor to mark the celebrations. Her statement contradicted the Punjab government’s announcement that the first jatha will be led by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

A list of 575 pilgrims that includes the names of Amarinder, former PM Manmohan Singh and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri shared by India with Pakistan on Tuesday – a day before she made the statement to this newspaper – did not have the VP’s name. A state government functionary also denied receiving any information or communication in this regard till now.

Harsimrat has been mostly spot on with information she has shared with regard to the corridor project and its inauguration in the past. Akali leaders are also claiming that Amarinder would not lead the jatha. Meanwhile, Amarinder did not indulge in politicking on the issue. “It was a matter of pride for Punjab and the Sikh community that the vicepresident will also be going to Kartarpur, when the first jatha passes through the corridor,” he said.

But the Union minister’s statement seems to have rattled some of his party colleagues. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Congress MLA and political adviser to Amarinder, told a television channel that the delegation should be led by Captain and not Naidu. “A Gur Sikh (devout Sikh) should lead the first delegation,” he said, giving it a religious angle.

SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema termed Warring’s remark inappropriate and ludicrous, calling it an insult to the constitutional post. “It should be a matter of pride that he (Naidu) is leading the jatha,” he said.

UNION FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES MINISTER HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL ON WEDNESDAY SAID NAIDU WILL LEAD THE FIRST JATHA TO KARTARPUR ON NOV 9