Sidhu's likely exit from BJP keeps AAP hope afloat

Denials apart, the grapevine has it that cricketer-turned-MP Navjot Sidhu could join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the Punjab elections.

In an often personality driven election in Punjab, the AAP will needs a credible Sikh mass leader as a mascot of the party, even as a CM candidate, if it has to be a formidable contender in the Punjab polls.

Kejriwal is unlikely to fit in this role, which is why the party is looking for a strong Sikh leader with a clear image who could steer the party in the elections.

 AAP leaders have denied any such possibility, but if sources are to be believed, Sidhu and his candid wife and MLA Navjot Kaur could exit the saffron party an join hands with the AAP. The Assembly polls are still a little over a year away and its still unclear, rather fluid, whether or not the developments mature. 

Sidhu has remained much on the party sidelines for a long time now. He was left disgruntled after the BJP denied him party ticket for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Amritsar, a seat that he won three times. Sidhu was denied party ticket from Amritsar and it was given to BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley.

Amritsar was considered a safe seat by the SAD-BJP. The BJP’s star campaigner Sidhu gracefully walked out, but in return got the BJP to agree that he will not to be a part of the campaigning in Amritsar from where Jaitley contested the Lok Sabha elections and badly lost.