Sidhu to go AAP way after quitting BJP?

Cricketer-turned-comedian and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and his MLA wife on Monday surprised their adversaries, besides BJP and its alliance partner Akali Dal, by resigning as Rajya Sabha MP and MLA, respectively.

Sidhu made the reasons for his resignation clear in his statement. He termed his Rajya Sabha membership as a burden that he wanted to offload.

RS SEAT A MERE BURDEN NOW: SIDHU

"At the behest of the hon'ble Prime Minister, I had accepted the Rajya Sabha nomination for the welfare of Punjab. With the closure of every window leading to Punjab, the purpose stands defeated. It is now a mere burden. I prefer not to carry it. In the war of right or wrong, you cannot afford to be neutral rather than being self-centred. Punjab's interest is paramount," Navjot Singh Sidhu said.

Sidhu's MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who, according to sources, had sent her resignation to CM Parkash Singh Badal, did not come out of her Amritsar home and avoided media. Her staff maintained that she was headed for Delhi. However, the CID staff roaming outside her home confirmed that the doctor-turned-politician was at home.

DECISION TO COST BJP?

Sidhu's decision has left BJP high and dry as it was eyeing the power position in the state. Sidhu is not only party's only Sikh face in Punjab but also a star campaigner. It was not immediately known where Sidhus were heading to.

Sources close to AAP said the couple may join AAP which has been sending feelers to them since last year.

"We will welcome him with open arms if he joins our party," AAP MP Bhagwant Mann said. However, sources close to Sidhus said they may not join AAP immediately and will announce the decision later. Sidhu and AAP leaders had earlier maintained that he had no plans to join the party which was trying to capitalise on the weaknesses of the Congress and the Akali Dal.

Sidhu's resignation has come at a time when AAP was facing the challenge of finding a suitable candidate for the chief minister's post.

Sidhus were not happy the way the BJP had ignored them. While Navjot Kaur had announced an open war against Badals on the issue of development in her constituency, Sidhu was denied the Lok Sabha ticket in 2014.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said that Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation from the Rajya Sabha was already a foregone conclusion as he had been left with little options. "With someone in his situation pushed to the wall by the Akalis and his own party the BJP maintaining a conniving silence, Sidhu was left with little option other than resigning," he said.

"Sidhu may have resigned from the RS only today, but we all know he had virtually withdrawn from the active politics for a long time and he is left with only a token presence in the BJP now,"he said, adding hence his resignation from the RS, and may be even from the BJP sooner than later, does not come as a surprise.

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