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Senior Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader and nominated Rajya Sabha MP Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the Upper House on Monday.
“At behest of PM, I had accepted RS nomination for welfare of Punjab. With closure of every window leading to Punjab the purpose stands defeated, now a mere burden. I prefer not to carry it. In the war of right or wrong, you can’t afford to be neutral rather than being self-centered. Punjab’s interest is paramount,” said Sidhu.
Sources close to Sidhu told The Indian Express that he might be joining the Aam Aadmi Party. Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur, a Parliamentary Secretary in Punjab SAD-BJP govt, may also resign, say sources.
The former Indian cricketer was asked to make way for Arun Jaitley to fight from his constituency Amritsar during the 2014 General Elections.
Watch | Navjot Singh Sidhu Quits Rajya Sabha: What Next
AAP Punjab chief tweets: Navjot Sidhu and wife most welcome in party
When asked if Sidhu would be joining AAP, Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh said: “When the time is right a formal announcement will be made. I think to make a better Punjab, Navjot Singh ji has taken this step. This will save Punjab.”
AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, who is also the party’s campaign committee chairman in Punjab, said they will welcome Sidhu with “open arms.”
When asked if Sidhu has approached AAP or vice versa, Mann said that is not the case so far. “He has not got in touch with us nor have we got into touch with him,” he said.
Asked if Sidhu could be made AAP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in case he decides to take the plunge, Mann said, “Whoever joins AAP, he is clearly told that it has to be unconditional.
“Even when I had joined AAP, I had said that I will be happy if I am assigned just the duty of pasting posters of the party. I want to make it clear that there is no race for any post in our party…the CM candidate will be decided by the party,” he said.
“But as party’s campaign committee chairman, I want to say that our doors are open. Sidhu is a good orator with a
clean image, who has also remained a star campaigner of his party. May be now, he finds that he does not enjoy that much freedom to express himself (in BJP),” Mann said.
Mann said AAP has promised to give a viable political alternative to the people of Punjab in the 2017 Assembly elections.
He said if people like Sidhu join the AAP it will be good for the party.
He also said, “From time to time, Sidhu’s (MLA) wife (Navjot Kaur) has been raising questions on policies and
programmes of the SAD-BJP Government including on the drug issue…”
