Cong reaches out to Sidhu, says he must not expect much from AAP

Hinting that the doors of the grand old party were open for cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Congress on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi -led government deceived him, adding Arvind Kejriwal led-AAP will not be able to provide him justice.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "We all respect Navjot Singh Sidhu ji. He has his own position as an artist, we can be part of different political outfits and can have political differences, but the way the Narendra Modi has befooled and deceived him, the way he was ousted from the party it reminds me of Baba Khadak Singh's story and I wish nothing of this sort happens with anyone."

"Moreover, I would like to say that Navjot Singh Sidhu should also not have any great expectation from the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal ji. Which political outfit he wants to join is his personal decision," he added.

Kejriwal sought to put an end to the speculations surrounding Sidhu joining his party ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls.

Earlier today, Kejriwal wrote on Twitter that Sidhu has not put forward any pre-condition prior to his joining the AAP.

"He needs time to think. Let's respect that," he said.

The AAP leader confirmed that he had met Sidhu last week and added he would continue to respect him irrespective of him joining the party.

According to reports, Sidhu initially had said that he will not contest the Punjab Assembly polls and just wanted an AAP ticket for his wife.

However, reports suggest that the cricketer-turned-politician later made a U-turn and demanded tickets for both himself and his wife Navjot Kaur in the upcoming assembly elections.