Jairam’s googly: Sidhu welcome to join Congress
Friday, 20/09/2013
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CHANDIGARH: Amid the war of words between the Badals and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Congress on Thursday bowled a googly to the saffron party, inviting the cricketer-turnedpolitician to its fold.
Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh, known to have close ties with the Amritsar MP, said the BJP had not treated Sidhu well and he was welcome to join the Congress. “Sidhu is an old friend and I had asked him to join the Congress almost 10 years ago when he forayed into politics. But he chose to go with the BJP. Now, he has realised the way the BJP treats its leaders and I would again extend the offer,” Jairam told HT.
Sidhu rubbished talk of his switching loyalties as an attempt to deflect attention from the real issues that he is raising about his constituency. However, he could not be contacted for comment on Jairam’s offer.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Punjab affairs in-charge, Shanta Kumar, who had issued gag orders to the MP after Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal asked him to curb Sidhu’s outbursts, held a long meeting with the MP in New Delhi on Thursday evening. Kumar refused to comment on the possibility of Sidhu parting ways with the party. “We had a detailed meeting and all issues were discussed threadbare. The matter will be resolved amicably,” he said.
By taking his face-off with the SAD-BJP alliance to the point of no return, Sidhu has fuelled speculation of escalating the war before taking the final plunge.
