Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose quest for a new political party has reportedly led him to the Congress, today met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi for talks that lasted 45 minutes.
It was not immediately clear if the cricketer-turned-politician is any closer to fixing a joining date, but the meeting happened just before Mr Gandhi met other party leaders to select candidates for the assembly elections in Punjab, to be held soon.
The meeting also came hours after the Congress suffered a major setback in municipal elections in Chandigarh, Punjab, winning only four of 26 seats. The BJP-Akali alliance that the Congress hopes to unseat in the state elections after 10 years of rule, has swept 21 seats.
Navjot Sidhu - whose protracted negotiations with both the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party have reportedly included the demand that he be projected as presumptive chief minister - is said to have told the Congress that he would like to contest the Assembly elections.
The Congress will have to assess his candidacy alongside that of his wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who has already joined the party and is a sitting lawmaker in the current Punjab assembly. Captain Amarinder Singh, the Congress's Punjab chief and candidate for chief minister, has made it clear that party will field only one person from a family. Mrs Sidhu's name did not figure in the first list of candidates released by the party.
Both Mr and Mrs Sidhu quit the BJP earlier this year. Mr Sidhu also resigned from the Rajya Sabha as a nominated member and flirted briefly with the idea of floating his own party after weeks of negotiations with AAP came to naught.
Amarinder Singh said earlier this month after meeting Mr Sidhu that the latter is "inclined" to join the Congress, and would announce a date soon. The Captain's best offer for Navjot Sidhu is the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat that he vacated recently and that Mr Sidhu represented as a BJP lawmaker for 10 years. He reportedly does not favour the option of fielding Mr Sidhu in the assembly elections owing to Mr Sidhu's chief ministerial ambitions.
SIDHU MAY CONTEST FROM AMRITSAR AS CONGRESS NOMINEE
Speculations are also rife that Sidhu could contest from Amritsar (East) seat -- the one currently held by his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu.
His wife, who joined the Congress earlier, had dropped ample hints that he would contest the upcoming state polls on the party ticket.
"Sidhu is likely to join very soon. He will meet Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh in a couple of days, finalise his date of joining and decide his role," a party insider told IANS.
The meeting came only hours after the Congress suffered a major setback in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections, winning just four out of 26 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the elections by winning 20 of the 26 seats, thus retaining its control over the civic body.
Both Sidhu and his wife had resigned from the BJP. He had also quit the Rajya Sabha seat as a nominated member.
