No move yet to make Sidhu CM face in Punjab: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday indicated that there was no move yet to project Navjot Singh Sidhu as chief ministerial candidate of the AAP in the Punjab elections even as he praised the cricketer-turned-politician's move to quit the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to a question on making Sidhu the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) CM face in the Punjab assembly polls Kejriwal said, "There is nothing like this as of now."

Responding to another question whether Sidhu will join his party, Kejriwal said that anybody wishing to join the AAP will have to become a "common man" first.

Kejriwal was speaking at the launch of a book 'Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party-An Insider Look' written by Pran Kurup, a Kejriwal batchmate at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, at the Constitution Club here.

"He (Sidhu) has just resigned from the Rajya Sabha. He is a good person. All good people should resign from the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, if anybody who wants to join the AAP, s/he has to become an 'aam aadmi' (common man) first," the AAP leader told reporters.

He said it was "okay" with him that Sidhu had made negative remarks against him on several occasions in the past.

In a major jolt to the BJP ahead of the Punjab assembly elections, Sidhu on Monday resigned from the Rajya Sabha and hit out at the party, claiming it was preventing him from working for the state's welfare.

Sidhu, who is likely to officially announce his future course of action in a day or two, is all set to join the AAP.

On Monday, Kejriwal said he "salutes" Sidhu for his "courage" in quitting the Rajya Sabha.

"People can give their right hand for an RS (Rajya Sabha) seat. Ever seen a sitting RS MP resigning to save his state? I salute Sidhu ji for his courage," Kejriwal had said in a tweet on Monday.

--IANS

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