At a time when Punjab Congress leadership is strongly opposed to any tie-up or seat sharing with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab for next year's Lok Sabha elections, Navjot Singh Sidhu has emerged as a lone voice hinting at an alliance in the “national interest” and for “safeguarding our democracy”. "The decision of the party high command is supreme. It is for a greater cause. National interest has been kept paramount to honour the spirit of the Constitution and to free the enchained institutions which draw their strength from constitutional values," Sidhu said in a post on X. "Petty perish pump politics loaded with selfish vested interests should be discarded for safeguarding our democracy. Elections are not fought for the next election, they are fought for the next generation. Long live INDIA. Jurrega BHARAT,” added the former state party chief. The decision of the party high command is supreme . It is for a greater cause,National interest has been kept paramount to honour the spirit of the constitution and to free the enchained institutions which draw their strength from constitutional values. Petty… — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) September 6, 2023 Sidhu remarks come a day after a meeting of party's constituency in-charges, MLAs and other leaders vehemently opposed any truck with the AAP. The meeting authorised state party chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa to convey the “collective sentiment” of the Punjab unit to the party high command during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Hyderabad on September 16 Sidhu was not present in Tuesday's meeting. Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who is the only leader from Punjab to be inducted in the newly CWC) and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa too gave the meeting a miss. This is not the first time that Sidhu has openly batted for an alliance in “a battle between democrats and autocrats”. On July 19, a day after Opposition parties, including top leadership of Congress and AAP, met in Bengaluru where the grand alliance was named as Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, Sidhu had put out a post saying, “This is a battle for the existence of democracy.Constitutional values will be extinct if those who rule as dictators under the garb of people’s power continue to enslave agencies which work for country’s welfare. “The Mahabharata” was a battle between good and evil. This is a battle between democrats and autocrats. Time to forget trivial selfish gains, discard parish-pump politics and work towards empowering the Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic of India envisaged by our forefathers,” Sidhu had then said. This is a battle for the existence of Democracy……… “Constitutional Values” will be extinct if those who rule as dictators under the garb of people’s power continue to enslave agencies which work for country’s welfare “The Mahabharata” was a battle between good and evil……..… pic.twitter.com/DHjXJPOGhR — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 19, 2023 Meanwhile, his wife and former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu said that the political party that one represent “is like our mother”. “For her honour, our characters and moral values are our responsibility. Any dark patch on our honesty, character should be a pivotal element in resigning from the party till we come clean. Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned as MP over a false case. Here we are making groups within a party and destroying our very own to become prominent. That’s not the way. Taking everyone along and walking on the path of truth to make our parent party stronger is the way,” she said in a post on X. On Monday, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that AAP and Congress will ally to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. Cheema said that Congress and AAP are already part of an alliance. “The INDIA bloc's aim is very big. To achieve that, we must keep aside our small differences,” Cheema had said, sparking a debate both in AAP and the Congress over electoral tie-up. On Wednesday, In an apparent reference to Cheema’s statement, Leader of Opposition Bajwa said, "The AAP is desperate.no Punjab Congress leader has ever issued a statement about contesting elections in an alliance with the AAP. It is only the AAP leadership, that is making such statements because they have lost their ground in Punjab." “The Congress high command had given the freedom to the state unit to assess the mood of the people of Punjab, party cadre, and workers. The point of view of the Punjab Congress is that we have no connections with the AAP in the state and will fight the upcoming general election in 2024 on our own,” the senior Congress leader said. He said that AAP's victory in the 2022 Assembly election was a “political experiment that has failed terribly”. Within 18 months, the people of Punjab want to get rid of AAP, he said.
