AAP will not win over nine seats in 2017 Punjab polls: Sukhbir Badal

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu will not have any bearing on the state assembly elections this year.

New Delhi: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said that while Navjot Singh Sidhu will not have any bearing on the state, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party will be limited to mere nine seats in the state assembly elections to be held next year.

Badal, who is also the President of the Akali Dal, was speaking at the Agenda Aajtak event, said, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu did not have any ideology to follow since he was about to join Congress, to whom he criticised earlier.

"I have no grudge against Sidhu. I always supported him. However, he criticised me to remain in the news. I do not think he will make any impact in the election. He will be a non-player. Now, he is interested in Congress. He had criticised Congress earlier. He had bargained with Aam Adami Party. What could be his ideology since he has put himself in the market for bargain?" he said.

Slamming Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal, who will be contesting the state election next year, Badal said, "AAP will not win over nine seats in the election".

When asked about the drug issue in Punjab, he said that "the state was being shown in the bad light over the issue" and passed the buck to the Border Security Force (BSF) for its failure in controlling the menace.

"Since there are no sand dunes or marshy land like in Gujarat and Rajasthan and strong army presence like in Jammu and Kashmir, drugs are smuggled into Punjab from Pakistan easily. Our police do not have access to the area of 10 km from the border. Yet, our police took strict action, preventing drug smuggling to Delhi, Mumbai and Goa," he said.

"We carried out drug test in which about four lakh people participated but just 1.26 per cent were found positive. News media has shown the youth of Punjab in bad light. We will leave politics if even 10 per cent of population of any village is found positive."

Badal said his father and Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal would head the state again if Akali Dal is voted back to power in 2017.