Cricketer-turned-TV personality and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu said he resigned from Rajya Sabha because he was asked to stay away from Punjab. “How can Navjot Singh Sidhu stay away from his motherland,” he said addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday. Sidhu had resigned as Rajya Sabha last week, three months after the BJP nominated him as an MP. His likely entry into AAP will come as a boost for the party ahead of the crucial Punjab assembly elections, due next year. The BJP, though, is still pinning its hopes on Sidhu. The party’s Punjab unit chief Vijay Sampla said in Chandigarh on Sunday that Sidhu was still in BJP and “he has not resigned from the party”.
Sidhu had earlier said that the interests of Punjab were paramount for him, but as a Rajya Sabha MP, he couldn’t have done much. He said the RS seat had become a ‘mere burden’ for him. “He will reveal his reason (about his resignation) to the media. Whatever he has in his mind, he will share with the media,” his wife Navjot Kaur, who is BJP MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary, had told the media last week. Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had lauded Sidhu’s move, saying that it was a courageous decision.
