The Patiala connection - Sidhu and Captain Amarinder

CHANDIGARH: Navjot Singh Sidhu, who jolted the BJP by resigning as Rajya Sabha member barely three months after being nominated, and his political rival Capt. Amarinder Singh, the Congress party chief in Punjab, have much in common. Both share a Patiala connection — they were born there — and a love for cricket.

Before Sidhu entered politics by joining the BJP, the former cricketer’s family members were staunch Congressmen. Sidhu's mother fought assembly elections twice on a Congress ticket. His father Sardar Bhagwant Singh — a cricket player himself — was Patiala district president of Congress and served under Capt. Amarinder Singh’s mother.

If the love of cricket brought the Sidhu family and the royal family of Patiala together, their political affiliations that turned them into rivals.

“The fact that the Sidhu family has a dual connection — in the form of cricket and association with the Congress — can’t be ignored. Though both political heavyweights are set to be pitched against each other, the Patiala connection attached with both will remain quintessential,” said political scientist Surinder Shukla.

Sidhu, a former Member of Parliament from Amritsar, developed differences with leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP’s coalition partner in Punjab. Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur, a BJP legislator, openly opposed the state government over the non-disbursal of funds to her constituency, Amritsar East.

The final nail in the coffin was when the BJP chose Arun Jaitley over Sidhu to take on Capt. Amarinder Singh in Amritsar during the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The Congress leader won with a heavy margin.

Navjot Kaur said on Tuesday her husband resigned due to differences with the SAD. “SAD had pushed him to the wall and he was left with no option," she said.