Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh lashed out at Union Cabinet Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal over her Kartarpur Corridor remark and stated, "She (Harsimrat) is brazenly playing with the religious sentiments of the people in order to promote the vested interests of the Badals, who are desperate".
The Chief Minister was responding to a remark made by Harsimrat, that the Punjab government is not commencing the process of land acquisition for the construction of Kartarpur corridor.
"She had once again put her foot in her mouth without doing her homework on the issue of extreme religious importance to the Sikh community. In a bid to gain one-upmanship, Harsimrat, along with the rest of the Badal clan, was trying to create confusion in the minds of the people with their blatant falsehoods," said Captain Amarinder Singh.
The war of words between the two leaders started after the Punjab Chief Minister on Tuesday alleged that the central government has not provided any funds for the land acquisition for the Kartarpur Corridor, which is why Punjab administration is facing trouble in meeting the deadline for the completion of the corridor.
Further speaking on the issue, the Punjab Chief Minister assured that his government would continue to pursue and pressurise the central government to take the vital project to its logical conclusion by initiating the development work at the earliest.
"The state government would go all out, to support the Centre to ensure the timely completion of the Kartarpur Corridor project, which successive Congress governments at the Centre and in the state had fought hard, through the years, to realise," he said.
On January 10 also, Captain Amarinder Singh launched a scathing attack on Harsimrat Kaur Badal via series of Tweets saying: "Instead of playing games over the Kartarpur issue, you should pressurise your ally at the Centre @HarsimratBadal_ to release necessary funds for the corridor development without further delay. For once, do something that serves the interest of Punjab & Punjabis."
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"@HarsimratBadal_ I am loyal to both, my state & my party. It is the Badal clan that is devoted only to themselves. For you, neither Punjab & its people nor the Sikh Panth of whom you claim to be guardians, are important, as you are only faithful to your own personal interests," read his other tweet.
Last year, the Indian government on the eve of Guru Nanak Gurupurab approved the building and development of Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to India-Pakistan International Border.
The Kartarpur route along the India-Pakistan border is three kilometres away from Gurdaspur, Punjab. If opened, it will allow Sikh pilgrims direct access to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, where Guru Nanak died in 1539.