Terming the press conference called by Navjot Singh Sidhu in New Delhi a “flop show”, chief parliamentary secretary and Akali leader Virsa Singh Valtoha said it seems the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has used and deserted the cricketer-turned-politician.
Reacting after Sidhu hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in his first media appearance following his resignation from the Rajya Sabha, Valtoha said: “Sidhu’s body language clearly gave away his plight. AAP has used him for damage control in Punjab, and then shown him the door.”
Read more | Sidhu’s 6 sixes, in verse & wordplay: Slams BJP, shows love for Punjab
Valtoha, who is also a spokesperson of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said, “There was a time when Sidhu termed the BJP his mother. Today he is against the same party. I just want to ask him why did he accept the Rajya Sabha nomination if he wanted to return to Punjab?”
The Akali leader said while Sidhu is claiming on national television that he has left the Rajya Sabha for Punjab and Amritsar, but in reality he himself left Punjab long back. Accusing Sidhu of ignoring his constituency, Valtoha said Sidhu remained a Lok Sabha member from Amritsar for 10 years, but was mostly spotted in cricket shows or other TV programmes.
{{/usCountry}}The Akali leader said while Sidhu is claiming on national television that he has left the Rajya Sabha for Punjab and Amritsar, but in reality he himself left Punjab long back. Accusing Sidhu of ignoring his constituency, Valtoha said Sidhu remained a Lok Sabha member from Amritsar for 10 years, but was mostly spotted in cricket shows or other TV programmes.
{{/usCountry}}The SAD leader also rubbished Sidhu’s charge that he had been sidelined by the SAD. “It was the BJP who denied him a ticket during the Lok Sabha polls. It is baseless to accuse the Akali Dal of stalling his projects,” he said. Valtoha claimed people of Punjab knew how sincere Sidhu is, and his induction in any party will have no effect on the SAD-BJP combine.