Navjot Sidhu Has Congress In His DNA, Says Amarinder Singh In Another Invite

Chandigarh: If Navjot Singh Sidhu is still unsure which way he should head politically after quitting the BJP, the Congress' Punjab chief Amarinder Singh has a helpful hint.

"Sidhu has the Congress in his DNA. His father was a general secretary of the party and remains a member. I know him since he was a boy," said Mr Singh today, reiterating that the "doors of the Congress are open for Sidhu," who declared his disenchantment with the BJP last month and has since been in talks to join the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP ahead of assembly elections in Punjab.

Those talks have reportedly faltered on a few demands that Mr Sidhu is said to have made, though Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal clarified that his party is waiting for the 52-year-old commentator to make up his mind.

"He met me last week. Didn't put any pre-condition. He needs time to think. Let's respect that," Mr Kejriwal had tweeted last week.

Sources have said that if Mr Sidhu's talks with AAP come to naught, he will seriously consider the Congress as a political option, though that party too is unlikely to meet his alleged demands.

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In negotiations, Mr Sidhu has allegedly said he wants to be projected as Punjab's presumptive chief minister. He also wants a package deal that includes fielding his wife in the Punjab elections. Mr Sidhu's wife, who shares his first name, is a BJP lawmaker in the Punjab assembly.

Amarinder Singh said today that his party will not field more than one member of a family in the Punjab elections. Mr sidhu, he said, "is a well-known face and we will give him a suitable role according to his stature."

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Mr Singh replaced Navjot Singh Sidhu as the Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar two years ago. In 2014, much to Mr Sidhu's chagrin, the BJP fielded now Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from the constituency he had represented for a decade. Mr Jaitley lost to Amarinder Singh and local BJP leaders accused Mr Sidhu of sabotage.

Navjot Singh Sidhu's relationship with the BJP plummeted since and he resigned last month from the Rajya Sabha, to which the party had nominated him in April this year.