Sidhu, Ex BJP Now, Had Attacked Arvind Kejriwal. Bygones?

New Delhi: For years, Navjot Singh Sidhu has made no secret of his distaste for the Akali leaders who head the Punjab government, accusing them of holding back funds to keep him from being an effective leader in his stronghold of Amritsar.

The Akalis co-govern Punjab with the BJP, a party which Mr Sidhu has finally iced after implicit and explicit sulks. The 52-year-old is expected to move to the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, which is led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, though Manish Sisodia, who is Mr Kejriwal's deputy, cautioned the deal is nowhere near done.

The crossover to AAP will amount to blatant opportunism, said Union Minister Harsimrat Kaul Badal, who is married into the family that heads the Akali Dal.

"Earlier, Sidhu use to call Kejriwal a dramatist. Now, I don't know what he likes in Kejriwal," said Harsimrat Kaur.

That sentiment echoed on social media today, with an earlier speech of Mr Sidhu being circulated in which he trash-talks the Delhi Chief Minister ahead of the last state election that was swept by AAP. Mr Sidhu is heard saying that Mr Kejriwal is a master of double-speak who vowed never to enter politics but then founded AAP, who swore against VIP culture only to accept a heavy security cover.

But Mr Kejriwal's brand as a corruption-fighting maverick politician is in full effect in Punjab, which votes next year, and where AAP is seen as a buoyant force. In 2014, the party, then just two years old, pulled a surprise victory of four parliamentary seats. Meanwhile, the Akali-BJP government has been weighed down with corruption scandals and escalating drug addiction among the state's young men.

Mr Sidhu, who had represented Amritsar thrice in the Lok Sabha, was coerced by the BJP to surrender his seat in 2014 for Arun Jaitley, who was defeated. Then in April, the cricketer-turned-politician, known for his rapid-fire banter, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP as a pre-emptive strike against a defection to the Aam Aadmi Party.

Yesterday, that strategy was nullified with Mr Sidhu resigning from the Rajya Sabha, stating that "in a war of right or wrong, you can't afford to be neutral", which implies he is not in the mood for political abstinence.

Mr Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur, said today that she remains with the BJP, whom she represents in the state assembly.