Days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stated that party will welcome cricketer- turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu if he wants to join, AAP leader and incharge of Punjab affairs Sanjay Singh today said that neither Sidhu had approached AAP nor the party had spoken to him for the crucial assembly polls, which are due in 2017.
"The talks about Sidhu (joining Aam Aadmi Party) are only in news. Neither Sidhu has approached us nor we have talked to him. The news pertaining to him is coming out on its own. I do not know about the veracity of such news," Singh said here while talking to reporters today.
On Kejriwal's recent statement about Sidhu, the AAP leader said, "We have always said from day one that our party will take a decision on those leaders in other political parties who have clean image."
When asked if AAP would bring a "parachute candidate" for Punjab polls, he said the party would decide about the "face" of the party for the state at an appropriate time.
Stating that the strength of local AAP leaders should not be underestimated, Singh said, "AAP has leadership which is capable of contesting elections and forming government."
Speculations are rife that ex-MP Sidhu might join AAP as the party wants to put up a face who has mass appeal among voters for the assembly polls.
Kejriwal in Delhi on December 5 had said, "We will welcome Navjot Singh Sidhu if he wants to join AAP."
The AAP convener had also exuded confidence that the party would sweep Punjab elections.
"There is no challenge from both parties (SAD and Congress). We will repeat the history of Delhi's victory in Punjab," Singh, who was accompanied by AAP's Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur and its Punjab co-convener Durgesh Pathak, said.
Singh said Congress and BJP used to say that AAP was an inexperienced party during Delhi polls. "The result of polls is before everyone. Kejriwal created history in the polls as party swept Delhi elections. Therefore, it is wrong to underestimate AAP leaders," he added.
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Asked about Kejriwal's visit to Punjab, Singh said the Delhi CM would focus on Punjab in a big way before the assembly polls and will aggressively campaign in the state.
"Kejriwal will be here six months before the polls and he will be campaigning for AAP which will sweep the polls in the state," he said, adding that Kejriwal would also attend a rally on January 14 in Muktsar.
Asked about the possibility of forming a "grand alliance" for Punjab polls, Singh ruled out such a possibility. "We will fight polls on 117 assembly constituencies alone in Punjab."
He said the party would not contest the Khadoor Sahib byelection. This seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikky resigned from this seat.
Asked about fate of suspended MP Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala and Harinder Singh Khalsa from Fatehgarh Sahib, Singh said it would be decided by party's disciplinary committee.
"As of now, they are suspended. Party's disciplinary committee will decide. My personal opinion is that they had indulged in anti-party activities and that is why they were suspended from the party which was a justified move," he said.
He, however, added, "If party decides to bring them back in the fold then we will have no problem."
Both Gandhi and Khalsa were suspended by AAP in August this year for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities.
To a question on a video released in October showing AAP MP Bhagwant Mann in a drunken stupor, Singh defended him and said the opposition parties were trying to malign his image.
"We challenge (Deputy Chief Minister) Sukhbir Badal and (Punjab Congress chief) Captain Amarinder Singh to undergo dope test along with Mann... Truth will come out," he said.
In the video, Sangrur MP, Mann was seen being forced to leave a religious ceremony after he was allegedly found drunk.
