Kartarpur Corridor: Congress minister objects to Akali names on foundation stone

A controversy erupted Monday with a Congress minister objecting to the names of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal engraved on the foundation stone to be laid for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

Punjab's Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was reviewing the arrangements made for the function at Dera Baba Nanak here when he spotted the names of the Badals on the foundation stone.

A furious Randhawa then enquired about it with the officials concerned.

I asked them (authorities concerned) about the status of former CM Parkash Singh Badal and former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in the government? If they want to write their names, then the name of Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress leader and former CM) and others should also be there, Randhawa said.

He accused the Badals of never visiting the Dera Baba Nanak for "the opening of the corridor" when they were in power. It's not a function of the BJP or the Akalis, he said.

The local MLA said: "It is not a political function. It is a government function, and I told them their (Badals) names should not be there."