Amritsar, Mar 11 (Agencies) : Cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is perhaps one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Congress win in Punjab. When he quit the BJP last year, there were murmurs doing the rounds that he would join the Aam Aadmi Party and be their ‘star campaigner’.
The AAP too hoped that they could boost their electoral chances by getting a public figure like Sidhu onboard. But in August 2016 reports poured in that Sidhu would not join AAP after all, as his chief ministerial aspirations were too much for the party to take.
Sidhu reportedly bargained hard with the AAP and wanted to be their CM candidate, but was not entertained.
By September, reports indicated that he would float his own political outfit in Punjab. On September 8, he launched an outfit called 'Awaaz-e-Punjab' and during the press conference of the launch, took the opportunity to attack AAP. The message was clear - joining AAP was out of question.
Sidhu pledged that he would work for Punjab’s ‘redemption’ through his outfit. But in January 2017, he took another political leap and formally joined the Congress in Rahul Gandhi’s presence. He was given a ticket from the Amritsar East constituency.
The timing couldn’t have been better. The incumbent SAD-BJP combine seemed to have little chance of coming back to power. Sidhu defeated BJP's district president Rajesh Huny in the Assembly polls.
"This is the revival of the Congress. It is a beginning. The Congress will revive from here. The party will take strength from here and spread across the country," Sidhu told the media on Saturday.
He also attacked the Akali Dal and said that people of Punjab chose to defeat the arrogance of those in power.
"This is the destruction of Akali Dal. People have broken the arrogance of the evil and arrogance loses when atrocities touch a peak," he said.
"Politics is not a business. The previous government considered Punjab's wealth as their own and looted our treasures. Our intentions are very clear. We have no hidden motives. We only want Punjab to progress as a state. We will not let down our party workers or the people of Punjab in this regard," he added.