CM should come on SGPC stage: Badal
AMRITSAR: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said that instead of holding a separate function at Sultanpur Lodhi to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh should attend the event being organised by the SGPC.
Badal was in Amritsar on Friday to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, a day before he is scheduled to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Narowal district through Kartarpur Corridor, which is being inaugurated on Saturday, as part of the first jatha of pilgrims.
Replying to a query over the separate functions being organised by the government and SGPC, Badal said the CM should come to the SGPC’s stage as the Akali Dal MLAs attended the special session of the state assembly on Wednesday and Thursday.
“It is my request to him (CM) that we should not indulge in petty politics. All of us should come to the function of the SGPC, which is democratically elected body of Sikhs in India,” he said.
He added, “It is unfortunate that we have been indulging in mud-slinging. At least, we should not condemn anyone on such a pious occasion.”
He added, “Sidhu had no role in it. It has happened due to the devotees’ prayers and the blessings of Guru Nanak. I believe that Narendra Modi has played a vital role in it.”
On holding of SGPC elections, he said, “The Centre will decide. We have nothing to do with it.” On Amarinder’s statement that the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor is a ‘bigger conspiracy’ hatched by the Pakistani army, Badal said, “Why the Congress is organising a function there (at Dera Baba Nanak) if it sees anything wrong in it?”
DON’T POLITICISE CORRIDOR ISSUE: JAVADEKAR
SULTANPUR LODHI: Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar who was in Sultanpur Lodhi on Friday to take part in the ongoing 550th celebrations of Guru Nanak birth anniversary said that the issue of Kartarpur Corridor should not be politicised.
Javadekar paid obeisance at historic Gurdwara Ber Sahib and later he along with Union cabinet minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the exhibition dedicated to the first Sikh master in the city. The exhibition was organised by the Central bureau of outreach and communications.