Agencies /Hyderabad
Amid controversy over his recent Pakistan visit Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu today said it was his ‘Captain’, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had sent him to Pakistan to attend the foundation-laying ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor.
Sidhu said: “Rahul Gandhi is my captain. It is he who sent me to Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi is the captain of the captain (Amarinder) also.” The Punjab minister was responding to a question on Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh’s disapproval of his trip.
Sidhu’s visit had riled Singh, who said on record he tried to dissuade his minister following a grenade attack on a religious congregation in Amritsar that left three people dead, but he paid no heed. Singh had blamed Pakistan’s spy agency ISI for the attack.
Sidhu, who was in Hyderabad to campaign for the Congress-led Maha Kutami (grand alliance), was talking to reporters at the Gandhi Bhawan before participating in a road show.
Sidhu said his visit had provided a great opportunity to improve the relations between the two nations.
But on persistent questioning, he responded to the query saying “who captain, oh! Captain Amarinder Singh – he is a captain of the Army, my captain is Rahul Gandhi. Even his (Amarinder’s) captain is Rahul Gandhi”.
“What’s wrong with my going to Pakistan, on my return I have been congratulated by leaders such as Harish Rawat, Shashi Tharoor and Randeep Surjewala, appreciating my effort to normalise relations between the two nations,” he said.
Sidhu acknowledged that he had been stopped by Punjab chief minister from going to Pakistan, “but my captain is Rahul Gandhi and he asked me to go”, Sidhu responded.
He went on to add that he had been pursuing the Kartapur Corridor with the Pakistan Government in his personal capacity and said, “I had promised to come for the foundation stone laying and I kept my promise.”
Sidhu said he was a soldier of Rahul Gandhi and he has been saying,”Bure din jaane wale hain aur Rahul Gandhi aane wale hain, Lal Qila par jhanda pherane wale hain, koi rok sakey to rok ley” (Bad days are about to go and Rahul Gandhi is about to come, he will unfurl the flag on Red Fort, if anyone can stop that, let him try).
On the controversy over his photograph with pro-Khalistan leader Gopal Singh Chawla, the Punjab minister said 10,000 people took selfies with him and he did not know the man. “When 10,000 people are taking selfies with you, how do you know who is Chawla? How? This is absolute rubbish. Last time when I went to Pakistan I was sitting with someone who was again controversial.
“Am I supposed to see where I sit. When you are going to another country, you are looked after by them. Anybody who comes to me…I don’t break hearts…come here and take a photograph,” he said, adding the man identified as Chawla was seen “everywhere” during the trip, including with Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Responding to another question about Imran Khan saying he could easily win an election in Pakistan, Sidhu said what the Pakistan premier meant was that he (Sidhu) was very popular in that country and that people there loved him. “I have won six elections here. Only a popular person can win six elections. Ask Smriti Irani (union minister) how many elections she has won,” he said.