Navjot Singh Sidhu part of BJP, insists Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla

NEW DELHI: Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla has said Navjot Singh Sidhu who quit the Rajya Sabha and is tipped to join the Aam Aadmi Party had not expressed displeasure or anger with the party. “Sidhu is very much a part of BJP. Who has Sidhu told that he is angry with the party? He has expressed no displeasure over the functioning of the party. Not to us. He has not done anything,” said Sampla.

Speaking to ET, the state BJP chief downplayed Sidhu’s resignation: “He may have his reasons for quitting but he is part of BJP.” Sidhu represented the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency from 2004 to 2014 but had to yield the seat to senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, Jaitley could not win the seat.

Though surprised over Sidhu’s resignation, the BJP unit chief put up a brave front. “When Vijay Sampla was not in BJP, the party was running very smoothly without him. Tomorrow when Sampla is not in this world, BJP will still run like any other political party,” indicating that individuals did not matter.

BJP has been reorganising itself in poll-bound Punjab. In alliance with SAD, it is eyeing a third-term in the state. The alliance partners, however, have been having run-ins over the last six months. The latest salvo was fired by Sampla when he accused SAD of treating railway minister Suresh Prabhu and him shoddily at the inauguration of the Bhagat Namdevji College in Gurdaspur.

However, Sampla brushed aside any suggestions of a possible break-up with SAD. “We are a part of the coalition. BJP is following coalition dharma. But our partner should also reciprocate it,” he said.