Sidhu to file his papers from Amritsar on Jan 24

New Delhi, Jan 23: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu will be filing his nominations tomorrow as BJP candidate for the Amritsar Lok Sabha byelection.

An elated Sidhu who got a stay from the Supreme Court on his conviction in the 19-year-old road rage case today, and was renominated by the BJP for the bypoll, said he would file his papers tomorrow.

Mr Sidhu will be accompanied by BJP General Secretry Arun Jaitley who is also party incharge of elections in Punjab, while Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) president Prakash Singh Badal is likely to be present there at the time of submitting nominations to the returning officer.

The BJP leader had resigned from the Lok Sabha in the wake of his conviction by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case.

Soon after he was given relief by the Supreme Court, Sidhu met senior BJP leaders including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and party President Rajnath Singh and sought their blessings.

Confirming that Mr Sidhu had been renominated from the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, Mr Rajnath Singh welcomed the Court's decision which he described as a good omen for the Akali-Dal and BJP combination.

Now the BJP-Akali Dal combine would work hard to remove the Congress government in Punjab, he said.

UNI