Believing that he commands respect in the opposition too, Congress' 'defiant' leader and former Cabinet minister Navjot Sidhu on Tuesday said Punjab's opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has always recognised his "vision and work" for Punjab, raising speculation that he may join Arvind Kejriwal's party.
"Our opposition AAP has always recognised my vision and work for Punjab. Be it before 2017 -- 'Beadbi' (sacrilege), drugs, farmers' issues, corruption and power crisis faced by people of Punjab raised by me or today as I present 'Punjab Model' it is clear they know who is really fighting for Punjab," Sidhu said in a tweet.
Tagging an old video clip of AAP leader Sanjay Singh praising him for 'taking the bold step' of quitting the BJP in 2017 and for raising his voice against the Akali Dal and the Badal family that leads it, Sidhu in another tweet said: "If the opposition dares to question me, yet they can't escape my pro-people agenda...This means they have resigned to their fate."
Sidhu's tweets come amid his feud with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. However, Sidhu had earlier clarified that he has no plans to join AAP.
Earlier toeing AAP's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's 'mantra' to woo people in Punjab by announcing pre-poll sops of free and subsidised electricity to all, Sidhu had favoured 24-hour supply with no power cuts in the state and free power up to 300 units.
Speculation in political circles is rife that Sidhu may join the AAP ahead of the 2022 Assembly election.
Ahead of the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, Sidhu had resigned from the Rajya Sabha and said, "At the behest of the Prime Minister, I had accepted RS nomination for the welfare of Punjab. With the closure of every window leading to Punjab, the purpose stands defeated, now a mere burden. I prefer not to carry it."
Pointing out that most people in Punjab came from Pakistan, Amarinder Singh asked if the Centre expected them to go to Pakistan to look for proof of birth.
A 25-year-old model from Assam who had come to Kanpur to perform at a function, was allegedly raped by former director of a prominent club in the presence of his five aides here, the police said on Tuesday. Four of the accused have been arrested, while the main accused is still on the run.
Ridiculing the Akali chief for his "atrocious lies" that reflected his frustration, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said Sukhbir Badal had clearly lost all sense of proportion in his desperation to get back into the political limelight.
Even as the D-Day approaches, the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case through their lawyers are clutching at all possibilities to apparently delay or stay the execution.
A 20-year-old man, resident of Indiranagar, was shifted to the isolation ward of the King George’s Medical University (KGMU), on Saturday morning after the lab test confirmed the virus.
