Navjot Singh Sidhu can win an election even in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday as he wondered why there was a hue and cry over the former Indian cricketer’s push for peace and brotherhood during his previous visit to the country.
Khan laid the foundation stone for the historic Kartarpur corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur — the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak Dev — to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Sikh pilgrims.
The corridor made headlines in August after the Punjab Cabinet minister and Congress leader visited Pakistan to attend Prime Minister Khan’s swearing-in ceremony.
Sidhu was later criticised for hugging Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“I heard there was a lot of criticism of Sidhu when he went back after my oath-taking ceremony. I don’t know why he was criticised. He was just talking about peace and brotherhood,” Khan said.
He said Sidhu has such a large fan following in Pakistan, especially in the country’s Punjab province, that if he ran in elections here, he would win.
“He can come and contest election here in Pakistan’s Punjab, he’ll win,” the cricketer-turned-politician said about Sidhu.
“Hopefully we will not have to wait for Sidhu to become prime minister for relations to improve between the two countries and before that, Indian leadership will take positive steps,” Khan said.