‘I don't know who is Gopal Chawla’: Sidhu on controversy over his photo with pro-Khalistan leader

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After returning to India, Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday said that he does not know who is Gopal Chawla.

“There were probably 5-10,000 pictures taken of and with me there (in Pakistan), I don't know who is Gopal Chawla,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, after Chawla, a prominent pro-Khalistan separatist leader shared his purported photograph with the Punjab Cabinet minister on social media, in a sharp attack, the Akali Dal asked Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday whether "India is his priority" or not?

[ALSO READ] Kartarpur corridor inauguration: Khalistani terrorist Gopal Chawla seen with Pak PM Imran Khan & Army chief Qamar Bajwa​

"There was a link between Gopal Chawla and a terrorist attack that took place in Amritsar (on Nirankari Bhavan), which is his (Sidhu's) constituency. If he shakes hands with him or does something with him, then Sidhu has to answer in order to clarify whether the country is his priority or something else," SAD president Sukhbir Badal said.

Three persons were killed while over 20 were injured in a grenade attack on Nirankari Bhavan in Amritsar on November 18.

“Sidhu was hugging the General who is killing our men. He even spent 3 days with him there. Even his photo is out with the terrorist. He has become a Pakistan agent after going there. Rahul Gandhi should clearly state his stand on this,” Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said in a separate attack on the Congress leader.

Gopal Singh Chawla, the general secretary of Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (PSGPC), on Thursday shared the photograph on his Facebook page.

Chawla, a known pro-Khalistan voice, was also seen shaking hands with Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa at the ground-breaking ceremony of Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan on Wednesday.

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Meanwhile, former chief of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee Paramjit Singh Sarna claimed that Sidhu avoided Chawla many times. "But he (Chawla) managed to get a picture clicked with him," said Sarna at Attari in Amritsar.

Along with Sidhu, Sarna had also attended the ground-breaking ceremony in Pakistan.

WATCH VIDEO: Navjot Singh Sidhu returns to India, says don't know who is Gopal Chawla​

(With inputs from agencies)