Fighting for Punjab's redemption,' says Sidhu after formally joining Congress

New Delhi: “I am a born Congressman, have come back to my roots,” said former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday, a day after he officially joined the Congress Party ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls.

“My battle is not personal, I am fighting for the redemption of Punjab,” said Sidhu. Attacking the ruling Badals, he said "the government which was for the people, has become the government for a family."

Sidhu refused to comment on who would be projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate in poll-bound Punjab.

"Gehun khet mein aur beta pet mein aur aap byah ki baat kar rahe ho,(it is premature to talk about the issue)," the former BJP man said when asked whether he would like to be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party.

Congress has not declared a chief ministerial candidate and was contesting the polls under the leadership of Amarinder Singh.

"In politics there are no ifs and buts. If my aunt has moustache I would have called her uncle," the cricketer turned entertainer said in remarks at the press conference which were replete with one-liners and wit.

To another question, Sidhu said he was ready to work under anybody appointed by the Congress high command and would contest from anywhere the party wants him to fight from.

"I am not here for (personal agenda) but for redemption of Punjab," he said while slamming the Badals, accusing the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of looting the state and making the prosperous state "a pauper".

Without taking name of any BJP leader, he suggested that the machinations of "Manthra" (a maid in the epic Ramayana who convinces Queen Kaikeyi that the throne of Ayodhya was for her son Bharat) made him leave Amritsar which he represented in Lok Sabha for four terms.

However, he did not reveal who played the role of "Manthra" in the BJP. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had contested the Amritsar seat unsuccessfully in the last polls.

In his 30-minute press conference during which he was welcomed into the party fold by senior leader Ajay Maken and AICC secretary Asha Kumari, who is in-charge of party affairs in Punjab, Sidhu said that he left BJP as it "chose alliance" with Akali Dal while "I chose Punjab".

Sidhu had met party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday at his residence in Delhi and had formally joined the grand old party.

This political development comes months after the cricketer-turned politician's wife Navjot Kaur joined the Congress.

Navjot Kaur had earlier this month said that either she or her husband would contest the Punjab elections.

"We don't have anything in mind. We only want to work for the welfare of Punjab. One out of us (Navjot Kaur and Navjot Sidhu) is going to contest the upcoming election, for sure," Kaur said.

She also said that Sidhu would campaign in all the 117 assembly constituencies in the poll-bound state.

"We have to help to develop every sector of Punjab, be it industry or agriculture. Ours is a golden state and we have to make it number one state in the country," she said.

According to reports, the Congress is planning to field Sidhu against the Badals in the upcoming polls, and is expected to contest from Amritsar East seat.