Taking strong exception to the Central Government’s decision to construct parallel stage for the inauguration of historic Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Punjab Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to end this controversy.
The state Cooperation Minister Randhawa, in his letter to the Prime Minister, minced no words to say that the decision to go in for a separate stage at this juncture when the State Government had already completed about 90 percent of the work, was nothing but “playing petty politics”, and that too on such a pious occasion.
Blasting the move as brazen violation of the centre-state relations, especially federal spirit of Indian Constitution, Randhawa said: “I have been having regular meetings with all the central agencies concerned while making preparations for the inaugural function and never even a hint was given about the central government planning separate stage.”
“Moreover, all these central agencies have been regularly inspecting the stage construction and other preparations for the inaugural function by the Punjab government,” he added.
Randhawa pointed out that the foundation stone laying function on November 26, 2018, wherein the Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu participated, was organised by the Punjab Government and not any central agency. “That function was an example of total coordination between the State Government and the central agencies,” he said.
Maintaining that it was essential that the same protocol must be maintained, the Minister assured that perfect coordination would be maintained this time too between the Punjab government and the central agencies.