Badal not averse to Sidhu contesting against Amarinder

Patiala, Apr 5 (UNI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Prakash Singh Badal today said that fielding BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu or any other candidate against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh from the Patiala constituency in the next assembly elections was a matter which ''will be taken up with the BJPs national leadership''.

''We will discuss this issue and other poll related matters with the Election Committee of the BJP headed by its General Secretary, Arun Jaitley before finalizing the ticket sharing aspect'', he said while talking to media persons here.

Mr Badal however did not rule out fielding the cricketer-turned- politician representing the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency from Patiala. ''It is not the right time to discuss this issue'', he added in the same breath.

He said that name of Sidhu and other possible strong candidates will be discussed in a meeting with Mr Jaitley who is incharge of BJPs Punjab affairs.

He said that the SAD had already constituted a committee of senior leaders for preparing its election manifesto for the polls due in February next year. The committee would hold discussions with representatives of all sections of society before finalising the manifesto.

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