Slighted Navjot Sidhu 'resigns'?

Amritsar: Speculation was rife on late Friday that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu had resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and as an MP, apparently peeved over the party promoting his rival. BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said the matter would be sorted out. The sudden 'resignation' move by Sidhu came just hours after Punjab BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina assumed office as chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust. The trust looks after development projects in the city and has an annual budget running into millions of rupees. BJP sources said that Sidhu had sent his resignation to senior BJP leader LK Advani and a copy to senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley. The sources added that the 'resignation' had not been sent to the Lok Sabha speaker as yet. Jaitley told a TV news channel that it was 'an internal party matter and would be sorted out within a few hours'. Sidhu could not be reached as he did not pick up his mobile throughout the day. He is presently in New Delhi. Sidhu had opposed Chhina's appointment to the public office and the BJP leadership had put his assuming the office on hold till the matter was sorted out. However, Chhina, who has the backing of top Punjab BJP leaders, Friday morning joined the new post. Chhina is the Punjab BJP secretary and had unsuccessfully contested the Amritsar-west assembly seat election in February 2007 assembly polls. Sidhu had accused Chhina of working against him in the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat elections in May this year. Sidhu managed to win the seat by a small margin of only over 8,000 votes. The former Indian cricket vice captain, who is a nationally recognized face because of his cricketing exploits and being a commentator and TV show host, was called by the BJP to campaign at over 300 rallies across India, but was ignored by the Punjab BJP. At a recent meeting of BJP leaders in Jalandhar last month, Sidhu had openly blamed Punjab BJP ministers and leaders for the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. Sidhu was first elected from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in May 2004.