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."
Even Emperor Akbar had lifted the 'Jizya' tax on non-Muslims, showing respect for secular sentiment, he pointed out, urging Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to reconsider the $20 fee in light of the Sikh pilgrims' sentiments.
October 25 is the 30th death anniversary of Sahir Ludhianvi. Presented below is an exclusive extract from the book, "Sahir - A Literary Portrait", by Surinder Deol
Eighty-six-year-old Banarasi Lal Chawla vividly recalls the day when he was strewing the ashes of his daughter Kalpana Chawla in the hills of Zion National Park in the US.
They attribute this the BJP's failure to cross the halfway mark in the 90-member Assembly. It could win only 40 seats against 47 in the 2014. The Congress has won 31 seats.
The Haryana Assembly poll verdict on Thursday threw up a hung House, with no party reaching the majority figures, in contrast to Maharashtra where the BJP-Shiv Sena combine was comfortably placed to retain power.
