Sidhu quits Rajya Sabha post, dents BJP’s Punjab prospects

In big setback to the BJP, nearly two-and-half-months after his nomination to Rajya Sabha by Narendra Modi government, cricketer-turned-commentator-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the Upper House post on Monday. He is believed to have had a conversation with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal before taking the step.

“People can give their rt hand for an RS seat. Ever seen a sitting RS MP resigning to save his state? I salute Sidhu ji for his courage,” Kejriwal, who is currently touring Punjab, tweeted.

AAP’s senior leader and party’s Punjab affairs in-charge, Sanjay Singh said “Navjot Singh Sidhu has taken a brave step by resigning from membership of Rajya Sabha and I welcome his decision. The official announcement will be done at the right time. 

His resignation was accepted by Rajya Sabha chairman in the afternoon.  Sidhu’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur too resigned from the official position that she held in Punjab. She is a member of the Punjab assembly on BJP ticket.

Resignation of the couple has come as a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiromani Akali Dal alliance in Punjab, which goes for assembly polls early next year. However, this is not the first time that Sidhu has resigned both from party post and Parliament – he quit from Lok Sabha in December 2006 when he was convicted in an 18-year-old road rage case. In July 2009, again Sidhu quit as MP due to political issues that had cropped up within the party’s Punjab unit.

However, his resignation was not accepted at that time but this time the problem for the party is graver as it comes ahead of Punjab Assembly polls. With AAP emerging as a force in Punjab, Sidhu joining their ranks would bolster chances of the newbie in Punjab politics.

Sidhu in his letter mentioned that the membership of the house was a ‘burden’ for him. In the resignation letter that he submitted to the Vice-President Hamid Ansari, he said, “I accepted the post because of Prime Minister Modi. But it seems that the all possible ways are now closed to Punjab.”

Sidhu was miffed with the party leadership ever since he was made to relinquish the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat for BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley during the last General Election in 2004. Thereafter he was conspicuous by his absence during the poll campaign in the states of Delhi and Haryana.