Navjot Singh Sidhu’s reported decision not to join either the Congress or the Aam Admi Party after leaving the BJP ahead of Punjab Assembly elections 2017 may prove to be a masterstroke for the former cricketer on a personal level, not for his political career in the near future. And there are several reasons for this.
Ever since he quit from the BJP and the Rajya Sabha allegedly because of not being treated “fairly” by the party, there were speculations that he may join either Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP or the Congress. However, reports today said the former cricketer has formed his own political front along with his wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, former India hockey player Pargat Singh and Bains brothers.
There are several reasons which could have forced the cricketer-turned-politician to take the decision.
Several times in past, Sidhu had declared that he wanted to serve Punjab and that he won’t compromise if any interest of the state was at stake. In doing so he also made his ambitions of ruling the state apparent. It was this ambition that made him leave the BJP.
A man who likes to speak a lot, Sidhu couldn’t find his voice in PM Narendra Modi’s party as he was relegated to the back benches in the Rajya Sabha after he had to forego his favorite Amritsar seat for Union finance minister Arun Jaitley during the 2014 General Elections.
When Sidhu left the BJP, there were strong speculations that he may join the AAP and may also be its CM candidate in the state. However, a deal with AAP couldn’t materialise. A report by janatakareporter.com said that AAP workers were not even willing to give Sidhu the party’s ticket, forget about the CM’s post. This was so because Sidhu wanted tickets both for himself and his wife, but this was against AAP’s rule which doesn’t allow two tickets for members of one family. The second reason for which they opposed him was that Sidhu is a convict. Even the Punjab Congress, which is being led by Capt. Amarinder Singh, couldn’t offer him the deal he wanted.
Sidhu’s new political exercise, if it does materialise as reported in the next three-four days, may prove that Sidhu can’t compromise on his words for the state. That he will serve it literally, is something that can’t always be expected of a politician. However, there are little chances that it will win a lot of seats after emerging out of the blue amidst the heat of Assembly poll campaigns. Parties born in haste rarely make much for themselves. AAP workers know this better. At best, such parties make a dent in the vote share of other parties.
BJP is almost ruled out, Congress has its own machinery, a strong CM face and decades of experience in the state. In such a situation, Sidhu’s ‘Aawaaz-e-Punjab’ may just end up denting AAP’s chances. Whatever the results be, Sidhu is in for a long struggle in the state, if he wants to prove his words right, literally.