Punjab CM, 3 ministers pay obeisance at Kartarpur Sahib

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, November 18

A day after the Kartarpur corridor was officially reopened, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi accompanied by his family and Cabinet colleagues paid obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Narowal district of Pakistan today.

Free travel for devotees in state buses: CM

CM Charanjit Singh Channi said devotees with valid permits for travel to Kartarpur Sahib will be allowed free travel in the state government buses on the day of their travel. Channi also urged the Indian and Pakistan governments to simplify the process of granting permission. While a visa is not required, passport details get uploaded onto the immigration software of both countries.

Wadala’s son not on first list of visitors

• The name of Nakodar MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, whose father Kuldeep Singh Wadala held ‘ardas’ every month at the corridor site from 2001 till his death in 2018 demanding opening of the passage, was missing from the list of official dignitaries
• The Ministry of External Affairs cleared a list of 44 dignitaries forwarded to it by the Punjab Government. Gurpartap’s name does not figure in any of the three lists
• “The Punjab Government could have paid tribute to my father by including my name. He held 226 prayer meetings till it became clear a corridor would be established between Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Sahib,” he said

The ministers who accompanied Channi were Manpreet Singh Badal, Vijay Inder Singla and Rana Gurjeet Singh. An hour before the CM arrived at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), state BJP president Ashwani Sharma led a 21-member delegation to the shrine. Sharma said: “It was the BJP that facilitated the reopening of the passage.” Those part of the delegation included Harjeet Grewal, Tikshan Sud, Jeewan Gupta, Subhash Sharma and KD Bhandari. The CM said he was fortunate to be part of the occasion. “The long-pending ‘ardas’ of the Sikh sangat has finally paid off. At the shrine, I prayed for the well being of the people of Punjab,” he said, adding parties should refrain from engaging in credit war.

Parties are making use of the occasion to enhance their poll prospects. Meanwhile, Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa will lead a 12-member official delegation tomorrow. On November 20, a group led by Deputy CM Om Parkash Soni and comprising among others PCC chief Navjot Sidhu, Pargat Singh, Aruna Chaudhary, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Harish Chaudhary will leave for Kartarpur.