Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal blasted Navjot Sidhu over Kartarpur border opening row. (Photo/ANI)
The Congress is finding it tough to explain its Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu's 'love' for Pakistan and his claims over the Kartarpur corridor opening issue.
Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal launched a scathing attack on Navjot Singh Sidhu and asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi whether he was backing a person like him who not only betrayed the country but also played with the sentiments of Sikhs.
"I ask Rahul Gandhi that a minister of your party went to an enemy nation, betrayed our people and played with the sentiments of the Sikhs. Was this all done with your blessings? Will you take action against him or are you hand in glove with him?" Harsimrat Kaur Badal said during a press conference in New Delhi.
Calling Sidhu an 'agent' of Pakistan, she said that the cricketer-turned-politician was being used as a puppet by the neighbouring country.
"I think he is a new agent that Pakistan has found and they are using him as a puppet and he is dancing to their tune," Badal said.
The Union Minister for Food Processing Industries also raised questions over only Sidhu being invited by Imran Khan for his swearing-in ceremony in Islamabad last month.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal had earlier claimed that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj 'reprimanded' Sidhu for 'messing up' the issue of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and accused him of 'misusing' the political clearance granted to him to visit Pakistan to attend Imran Khan's swearing-in as prime minister there.
Sidhu, however, claimed that he had a detailed discussion during the meeting with Sushma Swaraj and he explained to her about the necessity of opening of the Kartarpur corridor. "The draft (of a formal request to open the border) is being prepared and I will write a letter," Sidhu quoted Swaraj as telling him during the meeting.
Meanwhile, Sushma Swaraj stated that the Pakistan government has so far neither agreed to include visits to Kartarpur Sahib by Indian pilgrims under bilateral protocol nor has sent an official communication for establishing the corridor.
WATCH: Sidhu playing with sentiments of Sikhs: Harsimrat Kaur Badal
