Chandigarh/New Delhi, December 2
Standing by the cricketer-turned-politician, Navjot Singh Sidhu, SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal has appreciated his decision to resign from the Lok Sabha in the wake of his conviction for causing the death of a person in road rage.
“By doing so, Sidhu has given a new light to the deteriorating moral values in public life,” Mr Badal said in a statement.
He declared that the SAD-BJP combine would continue to figure Sidhu in its election campaign since he was an honest, dedicated and popular leader of the masses.
Citing Sidhu’s example, Mr Badal said Congress leaders like Jagdish Tytler, who were indicted by the Nanawati Commission, were still sitting inside Parliament and UPA partner Shibu Soren had only quit the Cabinet while continued to be an MP. He further said though charges had been framed against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in two criminal cases, he still continued to be the CM.
Meanwhile, Sidhu today submitted a fresh resignation after the first one was rejected by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee because it was not written in accordance with the rules.
“I submitted my one-line resignation to the Secretary-General of the House. It read: ‘I hereby tender my resignation as Member of Parliament’,” he said.
Earlier, Sidhu declared that he would not submit a fresh resignation in the wake of the Speaker rejecting it on grounds of its language, but changed his mind dramatically apparently because the party wanted him to stick to the “high moral ground” he had taken over his conviction.
