Navjot Sidhu joins Cong

BJP rebel Navjot Singh Sidhu formally joined the Congress on Sunday after meeting party vice president Rahul Gandhi for the second time in four days.

However, the Congress was silent on Sidhu’s demands to be projected as the deputy chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab polls and the accommodation of his supporters in the party’s list of contestants. Sidhu (53) will contest the February 4 Assembly election from Amritsar East, Congress leaders said, scotching speculation that the cricketer-turned-politician would be the party candidate against either Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal or his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Sidhu proved hard to get for the Congress, driving a hard bargain on being projected as the party’s next leader in Punjab. His wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had joined the Congress on November 28, along with former hockey captain Pargat Singh, who was an Akali legislator.

“We are certain that the party will be immensely strengthened in Punjab and elsewhere with the entry of Sidhu,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.