The discontinuation of circle style Kabaddi World Cup has sparked a war of words between ruling Congress and Opposition party, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with the former terming it as SAD’s personal event and the latter describing it as assassination of the mother-sport of Punjab.

Taking charge of his department on Monday, the newly inducted sports and youth affairs minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi had said the Congress government would not continue with the much-hyped circle style Kabaddi World Cup which was the brainchild of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

A five-time national champion in trap shooting, Sodhi said the Punjab World Cup Kabaddi (circle style) – which was started in 2010 during Parkash Singh Badal regime and continued to held amid much fanfare till the Congress came to power in 2017 — was Akali Dal’s personal event which was not part of the state government’s sports calendar.

Terming the decision as the biggest disservice to Punjab and Punjabis worldwide, SAD leader and Punjab Kabaddi Association president Sikander Singh Maluka on Tuesday said one could understand Rana Sodhi’s sense of jealousy and pique against the Kabaddi World Cup which was the brainchild of SAD president Badal and has taken Kabaddi to 25 countries across all five continents.

“Does the new sports minister want to ruin the future of these youth who have excelled in circle Kabaddi by ending the mother sport in the land of its birth?,” he asked.

Maluka said by removing Circle Kabaddi from the Sports calendar, Sodhi proposes to destroy the future of thousands of youth. “We will not allow this to happen and will oppose this perfidious conspiracy tooth and nail,” he said.

Clarifying his stand in the matter, the sports minister on Wednesday said Maluka’s statement regarding doing away with the recognition of circle style Kabaddi was misleading. Sodhi said that the sports department is not de-recognising the circle style Kabaddi and the sport like other sports is included in the list of recognised and graded sports of the department.

The sports minister further said that he had just said that the Kabaddi world cup would not be revived because it was the personal event of the previous regime and not part of the sports calendar.

He said the recognition of the circle style Kabaddi and gradation would be retained as before and the tournaments of the sports would also continue to be held as before at the district and state level.