Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh, on Tuesday, made it amply clear that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu will not contest the by-election in the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency -- a post that he recently vacated.
"Who will contest from the Amrtisar Lok Sabha seat is for the Congress president to decide. However, I don't think that Sidhu is interested (in contesting the Amrtisar Lok Sabha by-poll)," Amarinder told reporters in Delhi.
He was responding to a question on whether Sidhu, who is likely to join the Congress, will get to contest the Amritsar Lok Sabha by-election. The Congress leader, who was MP from Amritsar, recently resigned from the Lok Sabha seat to protest the Supreme Court's order on the Sutlej Yamuna link (SYL) canal .
Asked about when Sidhu was expected to join the Congress, Amarinder was non-committal, only saying, "We have met. Very soon, I think, we will make whatever announcement has to be made. I found him in a positive frame of mind and I hope that he will take a positive decision."
Hinting that Sidhu has to decide between his career as a television personality and politics, the Congress leader said, "Sidhu has to make up his mind on whether he wants to carry on with what he is doing or whether he wants to come here." He said that an announcement to this effect will be made by Sidhu himself in a few days' time.
"If he talks about his family being Congress supporters, that his father was a district Congress president, it indicates something," Amarinder said.
Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur, who was a member of the BJP and an MLA in the Punjab Assembly, recently joined the Congress. And she had given clear indications of her husbnd following suit. However, suspense continues over whether Sidhu, who resigned from the BJP earlier this year, will join the Congress and at what terms. Will he be promised deputy chief ministership in the event of the party winning in Punjab or will he contest the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar?
Amarinder was addressing the media two sitting MLAs from the Akali Dal -- Rajinder Kaur Bhagike from Nihal Singh Wala and Mahesh Inder singh from Bagha Purana -- formally entered the Congress.
