Amritsar lawmaker and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu today confirmed that her husband’s innings with the BJP was over. She, however, clarified that she would continue to “serve as a legislator of the BJP”.
“There is no question of his going back on his decision. Resigning from the Rajya Sabha technically means he holds no position in the party. I think he has very clearly suggested what he is going to do. Let him come out with his plans,” she said. The doors were closed for Sidhu when the BJP didn’t endorse his idea of snapping ties with the SAD ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, she added.
Edit: Advantage Navjot Sidhu
“He resigned from the Rajya Sabha as the BJP leadership chose the Badals over him. We had clearly suggested that we would never participate in any way if the BJP forged an alliance with the SAD for 2017. Sidhu apprised them of SAD’s deliberate move to scuttle his pet projects, but his pleas went unheard. When the BJP chose to continue the alliance with SAD, it was clear that the doors were closed for us,” she said. “Being an RS member also, Sidhu wanted to serve Punjab, but the BJP seldom had it on its list of priorities. So, he felt suffocated,” she said.
She, however, said she would remain with the BJP. “Though I follow my husband in every sense, I am still with the BJP as I have the duty to serve the people of my constituency,” she added.
She admitted that she was “impressed with” the Aam Aadmi Party’s ideology and went to the extent of suggesting that it was the only party that could “transform Punjab”. She, however, refused to confirm reports that Sidhu might join AAP.
“I personally like the work culture of AAP. Kejriwal himself works at the ground level and I appreciate AAP’s ideology,” she said. “AAP is a better alternative,” she said.
She said the SAD-BJP had failed to deliver in Punjab and criticised Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for calling the couple opportunists. “Badal himself is the most opportunistic person on this earth,” she said.
“There is no question of his going back on his decision. Resigning from the Rajya Sabha technically means he holds no position in the party. I think he has very clearly suggested what he is going to do. Let him come out with his plans,” she said. The doors were closed for Sidhu when the BJP didn’t endorse his idea of snapping ties with the SAD ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, she added.
Edit: Advantage Navjot Sidhu
“He resigned from the Rajya Sabha as the BJP leadership chose the Badals over him. We had clearly suggested that we would never participate in any way if the BJP forged an alliance with the SAD for 2017. Sidhu apprised them of SAD’s deliberate move to scuttle his pet projects, but his pleas went unheard. When the BJP chose to continue the alliance with SAD, it was clear that the doors were closed for us,” she said. “Being an RS member also, Sidhu wanted to serve Punjab, but the BJP seldom had it on its list of priorities. So, he felt suffocated,” she said.
She, however, said she would remain with the BJP. “Though I follow my husband in every sense, I am still with the BJP as I have the duty to serve the people of my constituency,” she added.
She admitted that she was “impressed with” the Aam Aadmi Party’s ideology and went to the extent of suggesting that it was the only party that could “transform Punjab”. She, however, refused to confirm reports that Sidhu might join AAP.
“I personally like the work culture of AAP. Kejriwal himself works at the ground level and I appreciate AAP’s ideology,” she said. “AAP is a better alternative,” she said.
She said the SAD-BJP had failed to deliver in Punjab and criticised Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for calling the couple opportunists. “Badal himself is the most opportunistic person on this earth,” she said.
