Punjab Election Results 2017: Navjot Singh Sidhu, a prized catch

He is a crowd puller and his whacky one liners such as <i>thoko tali</i> were hit among voters

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Congress candidate from Amritsar East assembly constituency Navjot Singh Sidhu with his wife posing with victory signs after he defeated BJP's district president Rajesh Huny and won the seat, in Amritsar

Business Standard

Last Updated : Mar 12 2017 | 1:46 AM IST

“I am a born Congressman. I am back to my roots…this is my homecoming,” Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Cricketer-turned-entertainer-turned politician, said when he joined the Congress after a hard negotiation with the senior party brass. Sidhu, many say, needed an assurance from none other than Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi that he would be made deputy chief minister if the party returned to power in Punjab after a gap of 10 years. Before joining the Congress, the 53-year-old Jat-Sikh leader had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and resigned from the Rajya Sabha. Those who call him an opportunist say Sidhu first tried to test the waters by warming up with the Aam Aadmi Party leaders and when he failed to secure the coveted post, he suggested of launching his own political party.

Undoubtedly Sidhu was a prized catch for the Congress as he wields a strong influence in the Amritsar region. He is a crowd puller and his whacky one liners such as thoko tali (a round of applause) were hit among the voters. Sidhu, who was known for his six-hitting abilities and played for India for 15 years, joined politics in 2004 and was a member of Parliament for 10 years. He soon fell out with the BJP brass for openly launching a tirade against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. But the tipping point came in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when he was asked to give way for senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley at his Lok Sabha constituency in Amritsar. Sidhu, a self-claimed poet, joined the television industry full time and enchased his popularity on The Kapil Sharma Show.

Earlier in the day when Congress chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh was asked whether he would induct Sidhu as his deputy, the seasoned politicians deflected the question by saying that it was the decision of high-command. Singh in the past had traded barbs with Sidhu and called him a “clown”.