Punjab elections: Sidhu continues to keep Congress guessing
Reports say the Congress is finding it hard to fulfill all the demands put up by Navjot Singh Sidhu for the upcoming Punjab polls.
New Delhi, Jan 11: When Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is back from a vacation, will hold discussions to wrap up the selection of candidates for the Punjab assembly elections, he would also have to decide on a truck with Navjot Singh Sidhu.
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The cricketer-turned-politician, who recently quit the BJP, has a couple of demands which he wants fulfilled before he joins the Congress.
Sidhu's list of demands include five seats in the first list of 40 candidates to be finalised on Wednesday. He also wants the Amritsar parliament seat for himself which has fallen vacant after he quit the BJP.
Sidhu also wants a seat for himself and his wife, who has already joined the Congress. The former BJP MP has also said that he would want 18 out of the 117 seats in Punjab.
What
the
Congress
will
offer:
The
Congress
is
not
ready
to
give
away
five
seats
to
Sidhu
in
the
first
list.
The
Congress
at
the
moment
is
ready
to
give
him
the
Amritsar
East
assembly
seat
and
also
the
post
of
Deputy
chief
minister
if
the
party
comes
to
power.
Sidhu has agreed to this offer, but has refused to come down on the number of seats he has sought. In fact, he feels that the offer given to him by the Aam Admi Party leaders with whom he was in talks was a better one.
The talks with the AAP, however, broke down after the party refused to grant both Sidhu and his wife a ticket citing party norms.
The Congress is, however, citing difficulties in giving into all of Sidhu's demands. Congress insiders say that giving away five seats is a stretch. "We have our own leaders who are eyeing these seats and to give into this demand would mean inviting a rebellion just before the elections, which we cannot afford," a Congress leader said.
OneIndia News