Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien also announced in the House that the Chairman has accepted the resignation of Sidhu.
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Welcoming the news, frontline AAP leaders gave hints that Sidhu would be joining their party wing as its trump card in Punjab and that they are expecting him to take on a big role in the state.
In the past, Navjot Kaur has been critical of the policies of the Punjab government, headed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, of which she is herself a part. “However, if anybody who wants to join the AAP, s/he has to become an “aam aadmi” (common man) first”, the AAP leader told reporters at a book launch in New Delhi. “I salute Sidhuji for his courage”. BJP combine, which has ruled Punjab for 10 years, is facing voter discontent.
Navjot Singh Siddhu, nominated member, resigns from Rajya Sabha. It was presumed that the BJP wanted to keep him away from AAP, which is making a strong bid to wrest power in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday took a dig at former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu’s decision to quit and said that the decision displays his “selfish mindset” which is against the party principles.
Badal said Sidhu – who had been reportedly pressing the BJP to break with the SAD owing to his sore equation with the Badals – had left the party “when he saw there is no opportunity”.
“The Akalis will be happy if the anti-incumbency votes get divided among the Congress and the AAP”, he said.
Is Sidhu going to join AAP?
Rumours of projecting Navjot Sidhu as face for Chief Minister of Punjab are also circulating across the country.
The AAP Constitution too doesn’t allow two members of a family to hold any office within the party, including the elected post, sources added.
His MLA wife Navjot said, “He has said that he wants to serve Punjab and there is no choice except serving from Aam Aadmi Party”. In 2014, Majithia allegedly teamed up with some BJP leaders to make sure that Sidhu was denied a Lok Sabha ticket.
“This was because there are so many aspirants for the CM’s candidature and we simply can’t afford to create more internal rifts in the party by showing our preference for one individual over the other.” said the source.
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A senior AAP functionary shared a prescient tale: “During a campaign meeting in Punjab when Kejriwal was asked who will be the chief ministerial candidate, he laughed and said “Arvinder”.
