Awaaz-e-Punjab open to alliance: Navjot Singh Sidhu

NEW DELHI | AMRITSAR: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Wednesday that his Awaaz-e-Punjab is not a political party and it is open to alliance with like-minded groups.

Sidhu also denied the charge that Awaaz-e-Punjab will divide opposition votes during the next year's assembly elections.

Former hockey player Pargat Singh said that he supports Sidhu's decision to ally with others to defeat the ruling SAD-BJP combine in Punjab.

"We will do everything to defeat the ruling alliance to ensure that Punjab gets back on the track," Pargat Singh said.

Sidhu, who quit his Rajya Sabha membership on July 18 and had announced floating of a "non-political" platform, Awaz-e-Punjab, had formally resigned from the BJP on September 14.

The 52-year-old former BJP leader, who had represented Amritsar in the Lok Sabha between 2004 and 2014, had accused BJP of using him as a "decorative piece" and trying to keep him out of Punjab.

Sidhu's political future has been a subject of much speculation. Initially, there was a talk of Sidhu joining AAP and becoming its chief minister face in the assembly polls next year, but his bitter attack against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has ruled it out.