Former cricketer and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is being criticized by opposition in the state for attending the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as prime minister of Pakistan. BJP is describing his visit to Islamabad as shameful.
BJP said to have asked Sidhu whether it was necessary to attend Khan’s ceremony at such a time when the nation is mourning the demise of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The cricketer-turned-politician went to Pakistan via Wagah border on Friday. He prophesized a positive change in the approach of Pakistan government towards India.
Sidhu said, “He will be taking the positive direction… and positive anything is better than negative nothing.”
About his invitation Sidhu earlier said Imran Khan made a phone call to him and they had talked for couple of minutes and there were congratulation and conveying of best wishes in between.
Sidhu’s association with Khan was for more than three decades as a cricketer first and thereafter as a commentator.
He mentioned Khan has the ability to lead from the front and it would be new beginning in the relationship of India and Pakistan after he becomes the prime minister.
The general elections in Pakistan were held on July 26 and political party of former cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), emerged victorious winning 116 of the 270 seats. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif won just 64 seats while 43 seats was grabbed by former president Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
