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 Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (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.”
{{/usCountry}}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.”
{{/usCountry}}To a query, he said former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had no role in the opening of the Kartar Corridor. “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 on the matter. 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?”