A day after Awaaz-e-Punjab said it would look at a political tie-up to contest elections in Punjab, AAP said the Navjot Singh Sidhu-led front seemed to be "bargaining for the best deal", while Congress said it would welcome them if their agendas match.
Awaaz-e-Punjab, which had initially been formed as a "non-political" front, had yesterday said it will look at the prospects of forging an alliance with the Congress or the AAP, while ruling out the possibility of joining a fourth front.
"I consider it a political statement. I am smelling that it (Awaaz-e-Punjab) is bargaining with two political parties for getting best deal to work with," AAP's Punjab Convenor Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi said today.
"They want to see which party is giving it more weight. People are looking at them to see what this front wants and their action will throw light on their real motive," he said.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh said the party was not in contact with representatives of Awaaz-e-Punjab.
"They have not contacted us either. If they send us their common minimum programme then we will look at it and then decide," the former Punjab Chief Minister and Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar said here.
However, he added, "If their common minimum programme fits into our programme then yes we will welcome them. Whether we have an understanding or not will not not depend only on that as understandings do not take place only on manifestos. There must be other things also. There may be seats whether it suits us or not, we will have to see."
"If they seek AAP support, then they will have to take a decision on whether they want to support outsiders...They will have to explain to people of Punjab why they want to support people from outside," Amarinder.
Independent MLA and member of Awaaz-e-Punjab Simarjit Singh Bains yesterday said the front will "look at the possibilities in the Congress and the AAP to see which party has a strong agenda for Punjab and which can look after the state's interests. After that, we will take a decision on forging an alliance with either of the parties to contest the Assembly polls on a common minimum agenda."
Cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu had earlier announced that he would not float a party to contest the Punjab polls as he did not wish to play "spoilsport" by dividing the anti-incumbency votes. The former BJP MP had said they had decided against forming a political party as there was not enough time to prepare for the polls, but had added that they were "open to alliance" for the "betterment of Punjab".
Asked at what stage these talks were, he said, "They are
currently on, but I cannot tell you at what stage these are. When we take a final decision, it will be made public".
Praising the role played by Sidhu in raising a voice for what was right, Singh said, "And in this (their effort to save Punjab), there are some people who have played a role for state's betterment, our effort is that all such people should join hands. This is a fight for justice and all such forces should come together."
"In the interests of Punjab, all those people we need to talk to, we will do that," he added.
"We will make honest efforts for it but what the result will be, this only time will tell. We have not set any time frame for these talks (with Sidhu) but when we make any final decision, we will make it public," he said.
Asked if Sidhu was an important factor for Punjab, Singh said, "Look, he and his wife (Navjot Kaur, who was BJP MLA from Amritsar-East) raised their voice on issues concerning people, they raised voice against the Badals and how they were plundering the state".
On Sidhu reportedly also negotiating with Congress, Singh replied, "It will be better if you put this to question to Sidhu or Congress...But as far as our talks are concerned, they focus on common issues of how to save Punjab..."
To another question, Singh said the upcoming Punjab polls will be fought under Kejriwal's leadership.
Replying to another query, he said, AAP has no problem in inducting the members of Sidhu's Awaaz-e-Punjab forum.
Regarding Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav's claim that AAP's graph had gone down in Punjab, Singh said, "AAP will win more than 100 seats and SAD-BJP will be completely wiped out."
"What we did in Delhi, history will repeat itself in Punjab. People are wise, they know that many forces have taken (electoral) plunge which will try to create obstacle but these forces will face defeat," he said.
On if Kejriwal will contest from Punjab, Singh said, "These are your speculations."
He also hit out at the ruling Akalis who have claimed that AAP will fail to create an impression in the upcoming Punjab polls and took a dig at those alleging that the AAP government in Delhi had failed to deliver on its promises.
"In Delhi, all that we had promised in our manifesto, we have worked to fulfill them. We had promised to make power cheaper by half, we promised free water, we talked about Mohalla Clinics, we did all this.
"We improved standard of education in government schools, installed CCTV cameras in buses for women's secuirty, ended Raid Raj and Inspector Raj, odd-even formula became a worldwide hit. Our work speaks for itself. Earlier, people used to say learn from (developed nations like) the US, now world is saying learn from Kejriwal and AAP," Singh said.
