Will contest poll only if BJP goes it alone: CPS Sidhu

Saturday, 25/07/2015

http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/

Amritsar : A couple of days after her outburst against the state government for not releasing funds for her Amritsar East Assembly constituency, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu today said she would not contest the 2017 Assembly elections, if the BJP fought it in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Talking to The Tribune here, she said, “The question of my contesting the elections while the BJP is in alliance with the SAD doesn’t arise. I will only jump into the electoral arena, if the BJP goes it alone in the forthcoming Assembly elections.”

She said she had been elected by the people for five years and she could not run away from her responsibilities. “I have been working day and night for making my constituency a better place to live in for the past over three years and will continue to do so during my remaining tenure,” she said.

About the road ahead in politics for her husband and former Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, she said he had been discharging whatever duties were assigned to him by the party from time to time. “For the remaining period, he is working for himself and spending time with his family, besides embarking on spiritual tours in between. He can’t work full time for the party until he is given a platform. Nobody listens to you when you don’t have a position in the party,” she added.

Sidhu has virtually distanced himself from politics ever since he was “denied” the ticket by the party for the Amritsar seat during the Lok Sabha elections last year. He apparently paid the price of taking on the ruling Badal family that he accused of scuttling his pet projects.

Meanwhile, CPS Sidhu also felt that it was a “deliberate attempt” on part of the state government to deny funds to her Assembly segment. She said the state government never had funds for her, though it had got ample money for Congress MLAs breaking away from their party and joining the SAD.

“It is not only with me, it is happening with the entire BJP. The Akali Dal only keeps some top BJP leaders in good humour, while the leaders at the lower level, as also the party workers, feel they’ve no say in the government departments, be it police or local bodies. You ask any BJP worker, they are feeling suffocated,” she added.

The Sidhu couple has not been on good terms with the ruling Akali Dal, particularly the Badal family, for the last couple of years. Former MP Navjot Singh Sidhu had targeted the Badals for allegedly hampering his pet projects in Amritsar. He had even threatened to stage a dharna against it. Now, his wife and CPS Sidhu is up in arms against the government, serving an ultimatum to release Rs 10 crore for the construction of roads in her segment or else she would go on an indefinite fast from August 15.