Awaaz-e-Punjab to meet soon to clarify position on forming alliance for Punjab polls

Chandigarh: Awaaz-e-Punjab, a forum launched by former BJP Rajya Sabha MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, will hold a meeting in a day or two to clear the air about forging of an alliance for the state polls.

“We shall have a meeting in a day or two to take a call on alliance,” Independent MLA Simarjit Singh Bains said on Wednesday. Bains, who is part of the forum, said Sidhu is expected to come to Ludhiana in a day or two and then the meeting might take place.

All members, including former hockey captain Pargat Singh, will have a meeting, he said. On Monday, Awaaz-e-Punjab had said it is looking at forging alliance for the upcoming Punjab Assembly election, while ruling out the possibility of joining any fourth front so as not to play a “spoilsport” by dividing anti-incumbency votes.

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However, Bains said the front would not align with Amarinder Singh-led Congress in Punjab. “Amarinder is hand-in-glove with the Badals, his dubious and behind-the-curtain deals with the Badals are an open secret. There is no question of betraying the people of Punjab. Politics is a mission not a profession. This is a war between the right and wrong. We will be on the right side and back Punjab,” Bains said in a statement.

Cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu a few days back had announced that he would not float a party to contest the Assembly election as he did not wish to play a “spoilsport” by dividing anti-incumbency votes. He had said they had decided against forming a political party as it is too short a time to prepare for the polls, but added they were open to an “alliance” for betterment of Punjab.

Bains said he has sought time from Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for a meeting to discuss with him an issue pertaining to water. “I came to meet Badal in Chandigarh on Wednesday. But when I reached here, I came to know that he is unwell,” he said. “I will try to meet him once he recovers from illness,” he said.