Parties blame each other for sporadic violence in N Bengal
The Election Commission received over 100 complaints of violence and intimidation from three Lok Sabha segments, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri.
A day after formally joining the Congress party, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday said that he was a “born Congressman” as he launched a scathing attack on Punjab’s ruling SAD-BJP government for failing to curb the drug menace in the state.
"This is a fight for Punjab's existence and its self-respect. Punjab was once known for the Green Revolution but now drugs are reality and the lives of youth are being destroyed,” Sidhu said.
“Akali Dal started as sacred gathering, but now it is a fiefdom and has been turned into a private property," added Sidhu.
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Despite the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance, Sidhu who was BJP’s Amritsar MP between 2004 and 2014, on many occasions spoke out against the Akali Dal and the Badal family.
In fact, many believe that Sidhu left the BJP because the party gave more prominence to the Badal family than him.
“BJP chose an alliance, I chose Punjab,” Sidhu said.
Sidhu further said that joining the Congress was like a “homecoming” for him.
"I am a born Congressman. This is a homecoming for me," Sidhu said adding that he was willing to work under anyone the Congress high command decides.
He said that his father too was a Congressman, and waged the freedom struggle as a member of Kirti Ghadar Party.
Sidhu is expected to contest the February 4 Punjab assembly election from Amritsar East, part of the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency which he represented for the BJP from 2004 to 2014.
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