The hard bargainer behind the funny lines: Navjot Singh Sidhu is proving to be a maverick politician

From making his pitch for the chief minister’s post in Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to stumping poll strategists with his decision to join Congress, the cricketer-turned-politician and former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu kept the guessing game going for a long time in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly elections. Though his wife, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, a former BJP MLA, joined the Congress over a month ago, the former cricketer continued to keep the Congress on tenterhooks for a long time, until this Sunday when he formally joined. This was despite Navjot Kaur’s statement that “we are two bodies in one soul”.  The delay in Sidhu joining the Congress led to speculations over him eyeing a bigger role, much to the discomfort of other leaders in the party.

Sidhu started his political career in 2004 when he successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar. He remained the MP for ten years until 2014, when the BJP decided to overlook Sidhu and field senior leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar. He alleged that the decision was aimed at sidelining him, due to his tirades against the Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.

Ironically, Jaitley lost a seat that would have been safe with the man he replaced. Sidhu was, however, compensated with a Rajya Sabha seat. In July last year, Sidhu’s sudden resignation from the Rajya Sabha sparked speculations of him joining the AAP which had been looking for a strong Sikh face amid criticism of AAP being a ‘party of outsiders’. The AAP wanted to cash in on his popularity as a Sikh face and his anti-Badal tirades to bolster the party’s campaign, but talks reached a dead end, when his tough posturing for the CM’s post was turned down by Kejriwal.

Sidhu announced a new front, Awaaz-e-Punjab, which fizzled out soon after. Congress strategists, who were wary of Sidhu joining AAP, jumped at the opportunity and set off several attempts to woo the feisty leader, even though he had traded barbs with the Punjab Congress’ pre-eminent leader Captain Amarinder Singh on several occasions in the past.  

He unabashedly gave Amarinder the cold shoulder who had once dubbed him “a clown” and chose to hold direct talks with the Congress high command. But as many in the Congress highlight, it was “better than having Sidhu in AAP”.  

Those who have followed his 15-year-long international cricket career will not be surprised with his political power-play and desire to reinvent himself. After his international debut in 1983, Sidhu was dubbed a “strokeless wonder” by the media. In 1987, an improved Sidhu made a strong comeback and till the mid-1990s was a formidable top-order batsman for India.

He reserved his best for Pakistan, famously took on Shane Warne in the 1998 India-Australia test series, and when criticised for poor fielding, worked hard in this area and returned a terrific fielder, even able to dive when necessary. Post-cricket, Sidhu became a rage on television for his whacky one-liners, which came to be known as “Sidhuisms”.  

The Congress has put everything at stake in its poll battle in Punjab and Sidhu’s popularity and funny but stinging one-liners will only galvanize the party campaign. His 20-day campaigning for the BJP in Haryana during 2014 Assembly elections struck a chord among Sikhs in Haryana and boosted the party’s campaign to victory. But the former BJP leader surprised everyone by continuing to weigh his options for a long time, before making the final move. The former cricketer has turned out to be a hard bargainer putting even hardened politicians to shame. No wonder then that, whether it was AAP or Congress, his inclusion made rival contenders for plum posts jittery.  

While Captain Amarinder continued to maintain that Sidhu is joining the party unconditionally, the lingering wait sparked speculation that the feisty Sidhu was in talks for the Deputy CM’s post. He now returns to state politics two years after his term as Amritsar MP ended in 2014, but his appeal among the masses has not waned. However, many believe that his decision to jump from one party to another has hurt his popularity. Whether he has been batting on the right pitch or not, the former cricketer is surely playing the game on his own terms.