Chandigarh:- Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today said the BJP owed an explanation to the people of Punjab in view of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s claims that he was asked by the party to “stay away” from the state.
“Sidhu’s revelations today have vindicated our stand that the Akalis and the BJP are partners in the sins of omission and commission and maybe, they were apprehensive that he might expose them and that’s why, they barred and gagged him,” he said and expressed surprise over BJP’s “silence and refusal” to comment on the issue.
“Their (the Akalis and the BJP) silence only indicates that the two parties have too much to hide. That is why they are left dumbfounded and not saying anything,” he alleged.
Earlier, the Punjab Congress chief told a press conference that their doors were open to the 52-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, adding that there was no disagreement in the party over inviting Sidhu to join it.
Amarinder said Sidhu’s family has had a “long relationship” with the Congress, adding that his mother had twice contested Assembly elections on Congress ticket, while his father was the Advocate General of Punjab during the Congress rule in the 1980s.
Earlier in the day, Sidhu told reporters in Delhi that he quit Rajya Sabha as the BJP had asked him to “stay away” from Punjab.
PTI
