M A I N   N E W S

Sidhu paid for tussle with SAD
Perneet Singh and Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 16
With the BJP fielding senior party leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar, it is now clear that sitting MP Navjot Singh Sidhu has paid for his tussle with the SAD leadership over the "delay" in carrying out his pet projects.

During the first round of talks with Sidhu on March 7, the BJP top brass had offered the constituencies of West Delhi and Kurukshetra to the MP, but he refused the offer. During the second round of talks on March 12, the party expressed apprehension that the ruling SAD may not support him if fielded from Amritsar. Subsequently, the BJP chose Jaitley over Sidhu, knowing well that it could not afford to antagonise its key ally (SAD) in the elections.

The BJP move to field Jaitley from Amritsar is being seen as a calculated one. First, with Sidhu repeatedly attacking the Badals, the SAD had thrown its weight behind Jaitley. Second, the BJP knew that Sidhu considered Jaitley as his mentor in politics and would not oppose his candidature. Also, the party did not want to upset Sidhu by fielding his bete noire, state BJP vice-president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, from Amritsar.

Sidhu's deteriorating ties within the BJP was another factor that saw him being denied the party ticket from Amritsar. A group of local leaders headed by Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi had at a press conference last week sought Jaitley's candidature from Amritsar. Also, it is no secret that Sidhu did not have a rapport with Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma.

It all began in September last year when Sidhu accused the SAD-led state government of scuttling his pet projects. Subsequently, he threatened to go on an indefinite, forcing an embarrassed BJP top brass to broker a truce between him and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Before that Sidhu's wife Dr Navjot Kaur, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, had hinted that the firebrand MP was feeling "suffocated" in the BJP and that he may quit politics.

For the past several months, the SAD leadership had been ignoring Sidhu. Government officials had stopped sending him invitations to public functions presided by the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and senior ministers.

Sidhu had skipped Narendra Modi's rally at Jagraon last month because he had no official intimation about it. Sidhu had addressed several rallies in support of Modi during the assembly elections in Gujarat. He was the only BJP candidate to have won in Punjab in 2009.

The Akalis, wary of Sidhu's popularity among the old and young alike, was quick to announce support for Jaitley's candidature. Ever since the end of the Vajpayee era, the SAD has been trying to get close to some senior BJP leader. It has now pinned hopes on Jaitley. It feels if Modi forms the next government at the Centre, Jaitley will be a powerful leader in the new dispensation. And this will work to their advantage.

On Sidhu, the BJP will have to face several questions, such as on what grounds was the ticket denied to him.

Factors that went against him

• Sidhu repeatedly attacked the Badals for “ scuttling” his pet projects. Hence, the SAD threw its weight behind Jaitley
• The BJP chose Jaitley over Sidhu knowing well it could ill-afford to antagonise its key ally in the elections
• The party knew that Sidhu, who considered Jaitley as his mentor, would not oppose his candidature
• Also, the party did not want to upset Sidhu by fielding his bete noire, Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, from Amritsar.