SIDHU, AAP KEEP EACH OTHER WAITING AS TALKS CONTINUE
Wednesday, 17/08/2016
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NEW DELHI: Differences seem to have cropped up between former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Navjot Singh Sidhu and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the terms of his joining and campaigning for it in the Punjab assembly elections.
AAP sources said Sidhu, who was to join the party on August 14, is still in talks with its leader Arvind Kejriwal. Sources in AAP’s highest decision making body, the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), said Sidhu met Kejriwal in Delhi on August 13 but a final decision on his date of joining is yet to be taken.
While a section of leaders said only the date has to be decided, others said there is no agreement on the roles Sidhu and his BJP legislator wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu will be given in the party. The two did not answer phones or messages. A source said the party is not willing to make an announcement regarding Sidhu’s role at the time of his joining nor commit anything to Sidhu and his wife. The Sidhus are camping in Delhi till August 18 and are expected to meet AAP leaders for another round of talks, sources close to them confirmed.
“Sidhu was never a chief ministerial candidate for us. That was propaganda spread by our rivals in Punjab to derail the process. He has been in talks with the party for a long time now,” a senior leader said. He said Sidhu would only campaign for the party and not contest. Another AAP leader said the party is unwilling to bend its rule of ‘only one ticket per family’ for the Sidhus.
