In a major setback, Cricketer turned BJP politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday tore into the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), his party’s ally in Punjab, asking voters to beware of “backstabbers”.
Continuing his tirade against the Akali leadership, BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu today said “there was not one good reason why the BJP should support the SAD government in Punjab”. The cricketer-turned-politician and three-time MP from Amritsar said the Akali Dal, “which was politically harming the BJP in Haryana, in fact, did not deserve to be supported by the saffron party”.
The two-time BJP MP from Amritsar, who did not contest this summer’s Lok Sabha elections after being denied the party ticket for the seat, spoke at a campaign meeting in Dabwali for BJP candidate Dev Kumar Sharma. The seat, a bastion of the Chautalas, sent Ajay Chautala to the Haryana assembly in 2009. Both Ajay Chautala and his father, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, are in prison after being convicted in the teachers’ recruitment scam, and the Dabwali seat is being defended by Ajay’s wife, Naina Singh. SAD politicians, including Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, have been campaigning for the INLD.
“Our allies hug us in Punjab, but here in Haryana, they are wrestling with us. This is extremely unethical and mischievous,” Sidhu said. “They support a person who claims that he will become CM from jail [Chautala]. Paide paide yaar meri fatto de [Punjabi idiom to describe bad company]. How can [kis munh se] our allies [in Punjab] support convicts who have been jailed for corruption?
“They”, Sidhu said, referring to the Badals, “forgot us [BJP], because of whom they are enjoying power in Punjab,” to loud cheers from the crowd.
As for the Congress, Sidhu said, “Congress toh munni se bhi zyaada badnaam hai”, referring to the popular Bollywood item number.
“Guru Gobind Singh said that a man is always known by his word. And here is our [Chief Minister] Bhupinder Hooda, who has never kept his word. The roads here in Dabwali are pathetic. These are such that if a man rides a bike on them with his newly-wed wife, he must keep looking behind to check she hasn’t fallen off the pillion,” Sidhu said, mocking Hooda’s claims of development in Haryana.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the answer, Sidhu said. “Do you still believe this Congress, do you still have faith in those who are undergoing prison terms on charges of corruption? Ek hi chaand Modi jaisa kaafi hai roshni ke liye, hazaaron taaron se kuchh nahi hoga (a moon like Modi is that you need to remove darkness, this isn’t something even a thousand stars can do).”
Sidhu alleged the Badals had conspired to ensure the defeat of the BJP candidate (Finance Minister Arun Jaitley) in Amritsar in the Lok Sabha elections, despite the two parties having been in an alliance.
“Our allies wanted to target Sidhu in Amritsar, so they ensured the BJP’s defeat in Amritsar. Beware of such people. I will always work for the interests of Punjab, Haryana and all of you. Modi is not PM because he has more wealth than the Ambanis, it is because of the faith that all of you have in him.
“We respect elders,” Sidhu said, “but not those like our allies (Parkash Singh Badal) who are campaigning for corrupt and jailed politicians”