Former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday announced that he would not float a new political party ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections and that Awaaz-e-Punjab would remain a political forum, which would be open to alliance for the betterment of Punjab.
“Our battle is to shake the system that has ruined Punjab. Politics is not a profession but a mission. There is no personal or political vendetta. The forum welcomes any alliance for the betterment of Punjab and will not be a political party,” Mr. Sidhu said in a statement.
Hitting out at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-led government and the Congress party, Mr. Sidhu said: “We will not divide the anti-incumbency vote-bank, which could indirectly benefit the ‘Badal-Amarinder’ nexus that has plundered Punjab in the last 15 years. This will defeat our purpose of bringing a change for the betterment of Punjab.”
‘Won’t play spoilsport’
“We will not play spoilsport and instead will facilitate the Punjab election,” he said, adding that the minimum time taken by a new party to win a State is almost two years, which is “ample testimony” to the fact that three months is too short a time for the Herculean task.
Assembly elections in Punjab are due in early 2017, ahead of which Mr. Sidhu, along with MLA Pargat Singh and Ludhiana MLAs Simarjit Bains and Balwinder Bains, recently announced the launch of Awaaz-e-Punjab.
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress president Capt. Amarinder Singh said: “Mr. Sidhu must have realised that he fits better in a comedy show than anywhere else, including politics.”
Mr. Singh said he had always insisted that Mr. Sidhu would hardly be able to form a credible and viable political party, adding that, today, he vindicated his stand.
Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also took a jibe at Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying Mr. Sidhu or his Awaaz-e-Punjab would be able to make “the slightest of difference” to the political equation in State.
