Sidhu kick-starts his campaign through a road show in Amritsar

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 17

Former Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday arrived in the city to kick-start his campaigning for the coming Assembly elections and made his presence felt.

He was received by his wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu along with a massive crowd at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport from where he started a road show.

The scenes were reminiscent of 2004 when he arrived in the city to kick start his maiden political innings for Parliament elections on a BJP ticket, but this time the difference was that he was received by Congress leaders and workers. 

The prominent Congress leaders present were Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll candidate Gurjeet Singh Aujla, district chief urban Jugal Kishore, sitting MLA Amritsar West Raj Kumar Verka, Dinesh Bassi and Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh Lucky.  

The cricketer-turned-politician said he was a “born Congressman” who was coming back to his roots and would be ready to work under anybody appointed by the high command.

Sidhu said that his sole motive was focussed on ‘Punjab’ and ‘Punjabiyat’.

Sidhu was the Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar from 2004 to 2014.

He had won on a BJP ticket in 2004 general elections. After resigning due to a court case against him, he stood again after the ruling was stayed. He won a byelection with a good majority.

In the 2009 general elections, he retained the Amritsar seat, but had to quit in 2014 to make way for Arun Jaitley, after his unpleasantness with the SAD.

Later on, he was nominated as Rajya Sabha MP in April 2016 but he quit the post three months later.

Attacking Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, he said Akali Dal was a pious movement but was now reduced to a dynasty.

Reacting on the BJP, he said ‘They preferred alliance with Akalis over me’.

Now, after joining the Congress, he vowed to expose Sukhbir Singh Badal, alleging he had sold Punjab.

“If Punjab is my soul, Amritsar is the heart. I am here to tell Punjabis where the Akalis have sold Punjab”, he said.

On Sidhu joining the Congress, SAD-BJP’s nominee for Amritsar East seat Rajesh Honey launched a scathing attack on him, saying, “Navjot Sidhu, who changed his loyalty often through negotiations, was never worth Amritsar. Sidhu and Capt Amarinder are two sides of the same coin who never bothered about the welfare of the holy city. Now, residents will send both back to Patiala, their home town”, he said.

Sidhu is scheduled to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple in the evening, followed by a visit to the Durgiana Temple.

In between, his staff members were busy taking his signatures on the nomination form for the poll. He will submit his papers tomorrow.

On January 19, PPCC president Capt Amarinder will join Sidhu in Amritsar to take out a road-show.