Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu hit back at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara row calling the BJP ally “frustrated”.

Sidhu, who has been in the centre of a major controversy ever since he hugged Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, also slammed the BJP over blowing the “one-second emotional hug” out of proportion.

Without naming anyone Sidhu said on Wednesday that SAD leaders should not create hurdles and “partner in this good work” of opening the corridor to the Gurudwara which is located in Pakistan.

Recalling the hug he gave to the General Bajwa during the swearing-in ceremony of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in August, Sidhu mocked the BJP saying that the embrace was just a “jaffi” (hug) and “not a Rafale deal”.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that Sidhu’s hug was demoralising for soldiers in India.

“You start raking up this issue again. Sidhu has become such an important person that the defence minister makes a statement…It was just a ‘jaffi’ (hug)…It is not a conspiracy, ‘jaffi’ is not Rafale deal, ‘jaffi’ is not firing bullets at Gursikhs,” he said.

“You are not talking about sentiments of Sikhs and you have blown the one-second emotional hug out of proportion. Is it a conspiracy?” he asked.

Commenting on Sukhbir Singh Badal, Sidhu said that the SAD president is suffering from verbal diarrhoea.

“Sukhbir Badal ko agar munh ka julaab hua hai to usme mera kasoor nahi hai. Agar usko vichardhara ki kabj hai usme mera koi kasoor nahi hai (It is not my fault that Sukhbir Badal is suffering from verbal diarrhoea. If his thoughts are suffering from intellectual constipation, it is not my fault),” Sidhu was quoted as saying by ANI.

On Tuesday, Sukhbir Singh Badal had said that the Congress leader has gone “mental” and alleged that Sidhu has “close relations with ISI and Pakistan”.

Besides Badal, SAD MP and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, too, had lambasted Sidhu over his hug and accused him of “lying” on the Kartarpur Sahib matter.

Calling Sidhu a “Pakistani agent” and “a puppet dancing to their tune”, Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that the Congress leader was “reprimanded” by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during their meeting on Monday for “misusing” his visit to Pakistan.

“External Affairs Minister (Swaraj) reprimanded Sidhu for messing up Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and misusing political clearance granted for private visit by hugging military chief responsible for killing our soldiers,” Harsimrat Kaur Badal had tweeted on Monday, a statement she reproduced on Tuesday as well.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Harsimrat Kaur Badal also produced the letter that Swaraj wrote to her.

In the letter, Swaraj said that New Delhi has been taking up the matter of opening a passage to the Gurudwara located in Pakistan but Islamabad “has so far neither agreed to include visits to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib by the Indian pilgrims…nor has it sent any official communication for establishing a corridor”.

Read More: SAD slams Navjot Sidhu after Sushma Swaraj’s clarification on Kartarpur Sahib

Sidhu had on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak claimed that Pakistan will open the corridor to Kartarpur Sahib. His party, too, had hailed it as a goodwill gesture. But Swaraj’s letter punctured Sidhu’s claim.

Sidhu had earlier said that he hugged Bajwa after he told him that Pakistan would open the Kartarpur border for Sikhs from India’s Punjab to visit to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan.

(With inputs from agencies.)