Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu came down hard at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, saying that the PM is envious because he was not invited to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony.
The Congress leader and Punjab tourism minister asked whether PM Narendra Modi jealous for not being invited to Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony, according to Times Now
He added, “I will not prove my patriotism to people whose name came up in Godhra riots case,” Sidhu said.
After Delhi BJP unit president Manoj Tiwari asked the Congress to clarify its stand on controversial statements made recently by party leaders Raj Babbar and Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sidhu attacked PM Narendra Modi and said that the Indian premier is jealous as he was not called for PM Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony.
Sidhu asked “is the PM jealous that he went to Pakistan uninvited for Nawaz Sharif’s birthday.”
In August, Sidhu’s trip to Islamabad sparked controversy back home with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing him of acting like a “Pakistani agent” while union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal accused him of lying to people over the Kartarpur gurdwara corridor.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal called Sidhu a traitor and demanded his call records to be investigated to see whether “he is in constant touch with Pakistanis”.
Sidhu’s hug with Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa at the oath-taking ceremony also sparked row in Punjab and CM Amarinder Singh also condemned the incident.
In October, Sidhu raked up yet another controversy when he said that he relates to Pakistan more than South India. Talking at a literature festival in Kasauli, Sidhu also said he had a problem in understanding the language in South India.
Sidhu was earlier with the BJP after joining the party in 2004 and even contested the general election from Amritsar. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 from Punjab but resigned from the position and left the party to join the Congress in 2017.