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Congress hails Sidhu's induction, takes on AAP, BJP

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ANI New Delhi [India]

Hailing Navjot Singh Sidhu as a star campaigner, Congress on Monday said that the former's induction in the grand old party would make everyone remind as how the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) betrayed and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) disrespected him.

"I welcome him in Congress. He is a smart player. When he saw that Congress will contest the election in the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh, he hit a six on the last ball. It is sure now that we will form our government with two-third majority in Punjab," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

The cricketer-turned-politician yesterday officially joined the Congress in the presence of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

 

This political development came months after Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur joined the Congress.

The Congress is planning to field Sidhu against the Badals in the upcoming polls.He may either be fielded from Lambi, where Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is the Shiromani Akali Akali's (SAD) candidate or from Jalalabad against Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Sidhu, who hails from Patiala, became Member of Parliament(MP) for the first time contesting on the BJP ticket from Amritsar in 2004.

In April 2016, he took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha, but resigned in July 2016. Soon thereafter he also quit from the BJP and, with the aim of fighting all anti-Punjab forces, formed a new political front - Awaaz-e- Punjab, along with former hockey player Pargat Singh.

Punjab goes to polls on February 4.

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First Published: Jan 16 2017 | 3:43 AM IST

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