Prakash Singh Badal doesn`t want me to contest LS polls from Amritsar: Sidhu

Amritsar: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was not in favour of him contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the BJP candidate from Amritsar.

If Shiromani Akali Dal leader Badal was fine with supporting him, then he would have asked his party workers to work wholeheartedly in his favour, said Sidhu, the BJP MP from Amritsar. Sidhu has made it clear that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from nowhere but Amritsar since he was committed to the people of the city. The BJP high command cannot field any candidate from Amritsar without Badal`s consent as the ruling SAD`s support was crucial for success in any poll contest in Punjab, Sidhu has said. Meanwhile, asked whether he would be taking part in Narendra Modi`s rally in Jagraon, Sidhu said he had not received an invitation from BJP for the same and would not attend uninvited. If BJP were to hand a ticket to Sidhu to contest from Amritsar, then he might have to face singer Rabbi Shergil, whom Aam Aadmi Party may field as its candidate.