Kartarpur corridor: Foundation stone row may reach PMO

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 27

The row over the names on the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor may reach the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, taking serious note of the faux pas by the Ministry for Road Transport and Highways, is likely to take up the matter with PM Narendra Modi, say sources. 

The protocol breach had evoked a strong protest by Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Housing Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa ahead of the inauguration ceremony, forcing the organisers to remove the stone, replacing it with a digital one. 

“MLAs are rightly aggrieved by names of Badals being put on plaque of Kartarpur corridor foundation stone laying ceremony (sic)”,  the CM tweeted. 

“The CMO was not aware of the names on the foundation stone till the matter was raised by ministers. There was no communication between the organisers and the CMO on the issue”, explained an official. 

Randhawa has written to the CMO, seeking a probe on whether the CMO had any role in shortlisting the names. 

Sources said a day prior to the event, NHAI officers had prepared a list of dignitaries whose name were to be engraved on the foundation stone. While the names of the Badal duo were included, those of  Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Randhawa were left out.