Sidhu vows to change face of Amritsar

MANDATE 2004

Calling himself "Vajpayee's soldier," charismatic cric-keter-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu promised to make this border constituency a nerve centre of commercial activities and take it on a road to development never witnessed before. He sounded especially hopeful due to the recent betterment of bilateral ties with Pakistan.

"I want to bring development and progress to this holy city and take up major issues for the revival and advancement of industry and trade in the border area," Sidhu said.

Expressing his happiness over improving of relations with Pakistan, the Shiromani Akali Dal supported the BJP candidate from the Amritsar constituency said that the border town stands to benefit most from the thaw in ties between the two neighbours.

"The Prime Minister's peace initiatives with Pakistan are beginning to show results. With people-to-people contact increasing and cricket matches being played between the two nations, trade and commerce will follow and Amritsar will become the hub. If borders open up, all the cargo that is directed from Dubai or Mumbai can land here directly," he said.

Known for his oratorical skills, Sidhu said if somebody raises his voice in the right quarters, the scale of development witnessed in Amritsar in five months time will be more than the city had witnessed in the past decade.

Sidhu, who was known for his aggressive batting style during his cricketing career, seems unruffled by the challenge he faces from the Octogenarian Congress leader R L Bhatia, with whom he is locked in a straight fight.

"It is not a question of me, but the question of the work done by the BJP for progress, development and whom you want as the Prime Minister""Vajpayee or somebody else. That is the question and my personality comes way low down. I am an ordinary soldier of Shri Vajpayee and the party," said Sidhu, who overcame his initial reluctance to contest polls.

The man from Patiala had nothing to say on the senior local BJP leader Daya Singh Sodhi's quitting the party and joining the rival Congress camp in protest for fielding an 'outsider'. "Forget about it, I don't even want to talk about it," is all he had to say on the Sodhi episode.

The former Indian opening batsman spends most of his spare time in performing path(reading holy hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib. On his source of strength and inspiration that keeps him going in a rigorous 18-hour schedule during the election period, Sidhu credits his doctor wife and namesake Navjot Kaur, describing her as "my pillar of strength."

"He never takes any major decision without consulting me or taking me into confidence," said Kaur about her husband describing him as a person with great determination who has always got what he wanted in life. "Even as a politician, I am sure, he will prove successful," she said.