A Congress delegation led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be visiting Kartarpur Sahib on November 9. The seven-member delegation has been constituted by party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Apart from Manmohan Singh, the delegation will consist of Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, and senior leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, R.P.N Singh, Randeep Surjewala, Deepender Hooda and Jitin Prasada.
However, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of Kartarpur Sahib, will not be a part of Congress delegation which will attend the opening ceremony of the corridor. As per reports, the former Prime Minister has also been invited by the Pakistan Government but Singh has declined the invitation. Sources also said that the first ‘jatha’ is likely to go on November 9, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor.
The Kartarpur Corridor is 4.7 kilometres from the India- Pakistan border. The foundation stone was laid down in November 2018. Sources said Sidhu’s nomination by the party was cancelled over the controversy in his last visit.
Sidhu, had heaped praises on Paksitan PM Imran Khan saying “when history is written of the corridor, the name of the Pakistan Prime Msinister will be written on the front pages.” Both Sidhu and Imran were contemporary cricketers.
The former India skipper visit sparked controversy after he was photographed with pro-Khalistani Gopal Singh Chawla in Pakistan. Sidhu, however, downplayed the incident, saying thousands of people came to him in Pakistan for selfies.
Sidhu had also attended the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan which sparked outrage in India. Defending Sidhu, Khan said that the Punjab minister had come with a message of friendship and love, adding that he failed to understand the “hue and cry” over his visit. Khan had also said that Sidhu can win an election in Pakistan’s Punjab if ever he decides to contest from there.